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CHILDREN'S STORIES

AMERICAN HISTORY

A MA MM IT II HUNT.

CHILDREN'S Stories

IN

American History

BY

Henrietta Christian Wright

Illustrated by J. Steeple Davis

NEW YORK

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

1885

•uh5

Copyright, 1885, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

TROW'8

PRINTING AND BOOKBINDINQ COMPANV,

NEW YORK.

(,9^

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGE

Ancient America, i

CHAPTER H.
The Mound-Builders, 5

CHAPTER HI.
The Red Men, 14

CHAPTER IV.
The Northmen, 27

CHAPTER V.
Columbus and the Discovery of America, , . 38

CHAPTER VI.
The Cabots, ' . 61

CHAPTER VII.
Amkiicus Vespucius, 65

CHAPTER VIII.
Ponce de Leon, 71

VI CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IX. PAGE

Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the Discoverer of the

Pacific Ocean, 76

CHAPTER X.
Cabeca de Vaca, 85

CHAPTER XI.
Hernando Cortez and the Conquest of Mexico, . 103

CHAPTER XII.

Pizarro and the Conquest of Peru, . . .114

CHAPTER XIII.
Ferdinand de Soto, the Discoverer of the Missis-
sippi, 172

CHAPTER XIV.
Verrazano, 199

CHAPTER XV.
Jacques Cartier, 210

CHAPTER XVI.
The Huguenots, 228

CHAPTER XVII.
Sir Walter Raleigh, 254

CONTENTS. vii

CHAPTER XVIII. PAGE

The Story of Pocahontas, the Indian Princess, . 259

CHAPTER XIX.

The Settlement of Maine, and Discovery of Lake

Champlain, 269

CHAPTER XX.
Henry Hudson and the Knickerbockers, . . 292

CHAPTER XXI.

The Pilgrims and the Settlement of New Eng-
land, 300

CHAPTER XXII.
La Salle, 316

CHAPTER XXIII.
The Story of Acadia, 331

CHAPTER XXIV.
The Story of Pontiac, 337

CHAPTER XXV.
The Revolution, 348

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

A Mammoth Hunt, Frontispiece.

FACING PAGE

The Teaching of an Indian Child, . . . .14

Young Columbus, 38

Vespucius Landing to Chastise the Cannibals, . 65
Balboa in Search of the Unknown Sea, . . 79

The Messengers of Montezuma, . . . .103

De Soto, 172

Jacques Cartier finds Newfoundland Inhospi-
table, 210

Smith Saved by Pocahontas, 259

The Half-Moon in the Hudson, .... 292
The Driving out of the Acadians, . . . .331
The Story of Pontiac's Plot, 337

CHAPTER I.

ANCIENT AMERICA.

Many ao-es aeo in North America there was
no spring or summer or autumn, but only winter
all the time ; there were no forests or fields or
flowers, but only ice and snow, which stretched
from the Arctic Ocean to Maryland. Some-
times the climate would grow a little warmer,
and then the great glaciers would shrink toward
the north, and then again it would grow cold,
while the ice crept southward ; but finally it be-
came warmer and warmer until all the southern
part of the country was quite free from the ice
and snow, which could then only be seen, as it
is now, in the Polar regions.

Apfes and ag-es after this, grass and trees be-
gan to appear, and at last great forests covered
the land, and over the fields and through the
woods gigantic animals roved — strange and
terrible-looking beasts, larger than any animal

ANCIENT AMERICA.

now living, and very fierce and strong. Among
these were the mammoth and mastodon, which
were so strong and ferocious that it would take
hundreds of men to hunt and kill them. These
great animals would go trampling through the
forests, breaking down the trees and crushing
the grass and flowers under their feet, or rush
over the fields in pursuit of their prey, making
such dreadful, threatening noises that all the
other animals would flee before them, just as
now the more timid animals flee from the lion
or rhinoceros. Sometimes they would rush or
be driven by men into swamps and marshes,
where their great weight would sink them
down so deep into the mud that they could not
lift themselves out again, and then, they would
die of starvation or be killed by the arrows of
the men who were hunting them.

Besides these mammoths and mastodons
there were other animals living in North Amer-
ica at that time, very different from those that
are found here now.

These were the rhinoceros, as large as the
elephant of to-day, five different kinds of camels,

ANCIENT AMERICA.

thirty different kinds of horses, some of which
had three toes, and some four, on each foot ;
and then there were a great many smaller ani-
mals which we no longer find here. Monkeys
swung in the branches of the trees, just as they
do now in other parts of the world, and great,
strange birds went flying through the air and
built their nests in the trees which, ages ago,
crumbled away to dust.

But at last all these curious animals vanished
from the forests of North America — all, that is,
except the reindeer, which is still found in the
far north — and the only reason we have for
knowing that they really lived here is that their
bones have been found in the soil.

Among mountains far from the sea are often
found the shells of sea-animals, and the imprints
of fishes in the rocks, and so we know those
animals must once have lived there, and in the
same way when the bones of the mammoth and
mastodon, and camel and rhinoceros, are found,
we also know that they must have lived here
too, although it was so long ago that nobody
knows very much about it.

ANCIENT AMERICA.

Among these bones have been found human
bones also, and tools, and arrow-heads of flint ;
so it is supposed that there was a race of peo-
ple living in North America at the same time.
But who these people were, or where they came
from, or whither they went, we shall probably
never know, for they have vanished as utterly
from the New World as have the fairies and
nymphs and giants from the Old World, and will
always remain a mystery.

CHAPTER II.

THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

About two thousand years ago there lived a
very curious people in North America known as
the Mound-builders. Where they came from
no one knows, but it is supposed that they were
either descendants of people from Japan, who
had been driven across the Pacific by storms,
and washed on the western coast of America, or
that they originally came from Asia by the way
of Behring Strait. Many people suppose them
to have been the descendants of the Shepherd
Kings, who journeyed from Central India to
Egypt about the time of the building of the
Tower of Babel ; they were called the Shepherd
Kings because they were shepherds, and came
down into Egypt driving their flocks before
them. Here they conquered the country and
made themselves kings ; they built many won-
derful temples, and founded Hehopolis, the City

THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

of the Sun, in honor to their great god, the
Sun, whom they worshipped, under the name of
Osiris ; Isis, the moon, being their chief god-
dess. It was supposed that Osiris dwelt in the
body of the sacred bull Apis, and therefore this
bull was adored as a god. He lived in a splen-
did temple, the walls of which shone with gold
and silver, and sparkled with gems and precious
stones brought from India and Ethiopia ; it was
the duty of the priests to wait upon him with
the greatest care, and he was always fed from
golden dishes. At the time of the rising of the
Nile there was always a festival to Apis, when
he was displayed to the people covered with
the richest and finest embroidered cloths, and
surrounded by troops of boys singing songs
to him. If he lived twenty-five years he was
drowned in a sacred fountain, but if he died be-
fore that time all Egypt went into mourning,
which continued until a new Apis was found.
The successor must be a perfectly black ' calf,
with a square white spot on the forehead, the
figure of an eagle upon the back, a crescent on
the side, and a beetle on the tongue.' Of course

THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

these marks were made by the priests, but the
people did not know that, and supposed that the
soul of Apis had passed into this calf, which
they received with great joy.

The Egyptians worshipped many other ani-
mals besides the sacred bull; the dog, wolf,
hawk, crocodile, and cat were all considered
gods, and any one who might kill one of these ani-
mals, even by accident, was punished with death.
When a cat died every one in the family cut off
his eyebrows, and when a dog died the whole
head was shaven. And if on their journeys the
Egyptians found the dead body of a cat or dog,
they always brought it home and embalmed it
with great care. The reason why the Egyp-
tians reverenced these animals was, that they
believed that the soul of man, after his death,
passed into the bodies of different animals, and
that after three thousand years it would return
and inhabit a human form again, so, of course,
they did not look upon a cat or dog as we do,
merely as an animal to be petted or used, but
they thought that in this animal dwelt the soul of
some human beino-, and hence it was sacred to

THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

them. One of the great gods of Egypt was
the River Nile ; and no wonder that they wor-
shipped it, as it was to them the means of Hfe.
It never rains in Egypt, and the land would be
like a desert were it not for the overflowing of
the Nile. Once a year this great river, swollen
by the waters that have poured into it from the
lake country above, overflows its banks, water-
ing the country on either side of it, and leaving,
when it recedes, a deposit of rich mud upon the
land; then the people sow and plant, sure of a
good harvest. Up and down the Nile Valley
extends a chain of rocky mountains, and these
the Egyptians used as places of burial. The
tombs, or catacombs, as they are called, are
ornamented with pictures and sculptures which
may be seen to this day. The subjects of
these paintings were always taken from life.
People were represented planting, sowing, and
reaping, spinning, weaving, sewing, washing,
dressing, and playing. Even the games of chil-
dren were shown in these tombs, and the balls
and dolls and toys with which they played.
Would you not feel strange to stand in one

THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

of these catacombs and see the figure of a doll
carved in the rock, and to know that it is the
tomb of some little Egyptian girl who died
three thousand years ago ? The games which
children play to-day are not new, and when
you have a game of ball or top or leap-frog,
when you play with your dolls, or sit down and
tell each other fairy stories, you are only do-
ing the same thing that the little Egyptian and
Grecian boys and girls did thousands of years
ago ; it makes them seem like real children to
think that, doesn't it ?

But different as the Egyptian religion was
from ours, there was one thing which they be-
lieved which we also believe in, the resurrection
of the dead ; and as to-day we symbolize this
belief by pictures of the lily, the egg, the butter-
fly, and other objects, so the Egyptians used
the lotus, which bloomed on the waves of the
Nile, opening every morning and closing every
night, as the symbol of the resurrection, and we
find this flower, carved in stone, used as an
ornament all throughout Egypt.

Of all the works of the ancient Egyptians,

10 THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

the greatest are the pyramids, the tombs of the
kings ; these were mostly built during the reigns
of the Shepherd Kings.

After a long time, perhaps five or six hun-
dred years, the ancient inhabitants of Egypt
drove out the Shepherd Kings. It is supposed
then that they crossed back to Asia, wandering
through that country from the south to the
north, spending some time in Siberia, where
they built mounds like those in our own coun-
try, then crossing Behring Strait they reached
North America, wandered down the Mississippi
Valley, building mounds and temples, journeyed
through Mexico, where are found some of the
most remarkable of these remains, and so on
across the Isthmus of Panama into Peru, where
at the time of the conquest of that country by
the Spaniards the sun and moon were wor-
shipped as gods, just as had been done in Egypt
thousands of years before, and where was found
a magnificent temple of the sun, the inside walls
of which were covered almost entirely of gold.
So you see the reason why it is thought that
perhaps the mound-builders were descendants

THE MOUND-BUILDERS. II

of the Shepherd Kings is that these mounds and
temples are Hke those found in the old world.
In Mexico and Peru all the great buildings were
made in the pyramidal form, while, as I have
said, in Siberia have been found mounds like
those in the United States.

Some of the most curious of these mounds
are found in the State of Ohio. One, in the
form of a serpent, with the tail ending in a triple
coil, is very curious. It is about a thousand feet
lonof and extends alono- a bluff which rises above
Brush Creek, in Adams County, Ohio. The
neck of the serpent is stretched out and slightly
curved over, and in its mouth is another mound
in the form of an egg.

Many of these mounds, from their shapes, it
is thought, were used for fortifications, and some-
times they are at regular spaces apart, which
shows they may have been used for sending
signals across the country. They were made
almost entirely of earth, but sometimes brick
and stone were used. Sometimes they were
built very high, and on the tops of these high-
est mounds have been found pieces of burned

12 THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

wood, showing that they were probably used as
places of worship, and that the priests offered
up burnt-offerings and sacrifices there. The
mounds are sometimes in the form of animals
and men. In those that were used as places of
worship human bones have been found, and
with them many things which show that the
Mound-builders must have known some of the
arts which the tribes who lived in America at
the time of its discovery by the Europeans knew
nothing of; among these things are carvings
in stone, pottery, articles of ornament in metal,
silver and copper tools, such as axes, chisels,
and knives, beside beads, bracelets, carved pipes,
models in clay of birds, quadrupeds, and human
faces, etc.

Is it not strange to think of this race of peo-
ple who lived here in our own America so many
years ago ? We would like to know how they
lived, what they looked like, and what language
they spoke, but we cannot even guess. We
only know that ages after the time of the Mam-
moth and Mastodon, this curious race, coming
doubtless from the East, entered the Mississippi

THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 1 3

Valley; that they settled there and built those
wonderful mounds at least two thousand years
ago, if not longer ; that finally they disappeared,
and we should never have known of them but
for the works they have left.

CHAPTER III.

THE RED MEN.

When America was first discovered by the
whites, all the country along the Atlantic coast
fi'om Maine to Florida was peopled by a dark-
skinned people different from any known to
Europeans. They were tall, with black or ha-
zel eyes, and straight, black hair. Some of
them were mild and friendly toward the whites,
but others were very warlike and hated the
white men for coming to live in their own wood-
land homes. They never lived very long in one
place, but roamed about here and there, living
'by hunting, fishing, and sometimes planting
corn, beans, pumpkins, etc. Their houses, or
wigwams, as they called them, were made of
bark, or skins, or matting, stretched on poles
driven in the ground, and an Indian village was
simply a great many tents in one spot, in the
largest of which the chief always lived. These

THE TEACHING OF AN INDIAN CHILD.

THE RED MEN. 1 5

little villages were nothing like those which you
would see now, scattered up and down the At-
lantic coast, where all kinds of people live to-
gether ; but each village was the home of one
particular family or tribe of Indians, and it was
very much as if you and all your brothers and
sisters, your uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews,
nieces, grandmothers, grandfathers, great-grand-
mothers, great-grandfathers, and everybody else
who was the least bit in the world relation to
you, lived altogether in one little town by your-
selves. Each tribe took some animal for its
symbol, or totem, as they called it, such as the
turtle, bear, or wolf, and they believed that the
spirit of the animal chosen watched over them
and protected them. Like the ancient Egyp-
tians, they believed that the soul of man passed
at his death into the body of some other man
or of some animal, and they drew signs from the
flight of the birds and the shapes of the clouds.
They worshipped the sun, which they said was
the symbol of the Great Spirit, and they be-
lieved that the moon could weave charms. They
believed also that the wind and the stars, the

l6 THE RED MEN.

Streams and the lakes, the great trees and the
beautiful flowers, all had spirits. And little Indian
boys and girls never went to school as you do,
to learn about history and geography, but their
school was out in the shady woods at their
mother's feet, where they sat and listened to the
beautiful stories of Hiawatha, the son of the
West Wind, who had been sent among them to
clear their rivers, forests, and fishing-grounds,
and to teach them the arts of peace ; of his
wife, Minnehaha, Laughing Water, who sat by
the doorway of her wigwam, plaiting mats of
flags and rushes when Hiawatha came to woo
her ; of Minnehaha's father, the old arrow-
maker, who made arrow-heads of jasper and
chalcedony, and of the brave, beautiful, and
gentle Chibiabos, the best of all musicians, who
sang so sweetly that all the warriors and wom-
en and children crept at his feet to listen, and
who made from hollow reeds flutes so mellow
and musical that at the sound the brook ceased
to murmur in the woodland, the birds stopped
singing, the squirrel ceased chattering, and the
rabbit sat up to listen. And the bluebird and

THE RED MEN. 1/

robin and whippoorwill begged Chibiabos that
he would teach them to sing as sweetly, but
he could not, for he sang of the things they
could not understand, of peace and love and
freedom and undying life in the Islands of the
Blessed.

And then, too, the Indian mothers would
tell their children the story of Wabun, the East
Wind, who brought the morning to the earth,
and chased away the darkness with his silver
arrows, whose cheeks were crimson with the
sunrise, and whose voice awoke the deer and
the hunter ; and yet, although the birds sang to
him, and the flowers sent up their perfume to
greet him, and " though the forests and rivers
sang and shouted at his coming," still he was
not happy, for he was alone in heaven. But
one morning while the villages were still sleep-
ing, and the fog lay on the rivers, Wabun, look-
ing downward, saw a beautiful maiden walking
all alone in a meadow, gathering water- flags
and rushes. And each day after that the first
thing he saw was the maiden's eyes, which look-
ed like two blue lakes among the rushes, and

THE RED MEN.

he loved the beautiful maiden and wooed her
with the sunshine of his smile, and whispered
to her in the gentle breezes which sang through
the trees, and at last he drew her to him and
changed her to a star, and then he was no longer
sad, but happy, for he was no longer alone in
heaven, but with him was his bride, the beauti-
ful Wabun-Annung, the Morning Star.

And then the story of Kabibonokka, the
North Wind, who dwelt among the icebergs
and snow-drifts in the land of the White Rabbit ;
the North Wind, who in autumn " painted all
the trees with scarlet and stained the leaves
with red and yellow," and who drove the birds
down to the land of the South Wind, ere he
froze the rivers and lakes and ponds and sent
the snow-flakes through the forest.

And the story of Shawondassee, the South
Wind, who dwelt in the land of summer, who
sent the bluebirds and the robins and the
swallows ; and the smoke from his pipe

" Filled the sky with haze and vapor,
Filled th^ air with dreamy softness,
Gave a twinkle to ^^.le water,

THE RED MEN. 19

Touched the rugged hills with smoothness,
Brought the tender Indian Summer
To the melancholy north-land."

And the South Wind had also his trouble,
for he loved a maiden whom he saw one day-
standing on the prairies, clothed in bright green
garments, and with hair like sunshine ; but he
did not try to woo the maiden, but only sighed
and sighed, until one morning behold he saw
that her yellow hair had grown white, and the
air seemed full of snow-flakes which rose from
the earth and were wafted away by the wind ;
for, after all, it was not a maiden that the South
Wind had loved, but only a prairie dandelion,
whose petals had turned to down and floated
away. Do you not think these Indian children
learned pleasant things in their school ? There
was one story which they liked very much, and
which you may also hear. It was the Legend
of the Red Swan, and it told of an Indian war-
rior, who with his three brothers went out to
shoot, and each one said that he would kill no
other animal except the kind he was used to
killing. The warrior , had not gone far before he

20 THE RED MEN.

saw a bear, which he shot, although he should
not have done so, as he was not in the habit of
killinof bears. But as he was skinnino- the dead
bear, the air all around him turned red, and he
heard a strange noise in the distance ; he fol-
lowed the noise and found it came from a beau-
tiful red swan, which was sitting far out in a
lake, and whose plumage glittered in the sun
like rubies, and although the Indian warrior
tried very hard to shoot the swan with his magic
arrows, still he could not kill it, for it rose and
flapped its wings and flew slowly away toward
the setting sun.

All these stories and many others, of war
and hunting and bravery, did these dusky chil-
dren of the Western World listen to eagerly.
And when an Indian boy wished to excel his
friends and become their leader, he did not take
his books and study algebra or geometry or
Latin, for they had no such books ; he did not
even try to be best in a game of cricket or ball,
or to be a good oarsman, but he would train his
eye so he could shoot a bird on the wing so far
up in the sky that one could scarcely see it ; he

THE RED MEN. 21

would train his muscle so that he could fieht
hand to hand with bears and wild-cats if need
be ; he would learn to find the trail of an enemy-
through the deep forest, guided only by the
bent twigs or broken leaves, and he would be
able to send his arrow straight through the
heart of the deer which bounded over the pre-
cipices and mountains. And the little Indian
girls would learn of their mothers how to pre-
pare skins of animals and make moccasins and
garments out of them ; how to ornament belts
and leggings with shells and beads and feath-
ers ; how to plant corn and cook the food. And
do you want to know how the Indian babies
were taken care of? They were fastened so
tightly in their queer little cradles that they
could not move. The cradles were made in
such a manner that they could be carried on the
mother's back, or hung in a tree, or placed on
the ground. If the Indian babies grew tired of
being left all alone in this way, no one minded
them ; they might cry and cry, but no one paid
any attention, for their mothers believed in teach-
ing them patience in this way.

22 THE RED MEN.

The Indians were very fond of games ; they
used to play ball and have famous ball matches
on the ground in summer and on the ice in
winter ; and then they had races and liked shoot-
ing at targets, just as you do now. The game
of lacrosse, which is played so much in Canada,
is an Indian game, as is also tobogganing and
snow-shoeing.

In the winter the Indians travelled from
place to place on their snow-shoes ; these were
made of maple-wood and deer's hide, and fast-
ened on the feet by pieces of deer's hide, and
upon these curious shoes the Indians could
travel very fast, sometimes forty miles a day,
when huntinof the deer and moose. Each tribe
of Indians had its own peculiar kind of snow-
shoe, and one Indian meeting another in the
forest could tell by the totem tattooed on the
breast and by the pattern of the snow-shoe to
what tribe he belonged, and whether he were
friend or foe.

They used to travel by water in their
graceful birch-bark canoes ; these were made
by stripping off the bark from a birch tree and

THE RED MEN. 23

fastening it whole around the frame of cedar.
Some of the canoes were very long and could
carry ten or twelve men. Every little Indian
boy and girl could manage his canoe with the
greatest ease, either sitting or standing, and
long hours they spent in them, paddling on the
lakes and fishinsf in the shadow of the moun-
tains.

The Red Men were a very poetical people,
and the names which they gave to their moun-
tains and lakes and rivers were often very fanci-
ful. Many of these we have kept, as Mississippi,
the Father of Waters ; Minnehaha, Laughing
Water ; Canadarauga, The Smile of the Great
Spirit ; Housatonic, Winding Waters ; Horicon
(the Indian name for Lake George), Silver
Water ; Ohio, Fair to Look Upon, etc.

The names of the months were also very
poetical and pretty ; the Indians did not divide
the years into months, but moons, and instead
of saying last month, or next month, they would
say at the time of the last moon, or the next
moon, and their weeks were called from the
changes in the moon, when it was new or

24 THE RED MEN.

quarter or full. April was the Moon of Bright
Nights ; May, the Moon of Leaves ; June, the
Moon of Strawberries ; September, the Moon
of Falling Leaves ; November, the Moon of
Snow-shoes, etc.

And besides they had their own names
for all the wonderful and curious things in the
heavens ; thus the Milky Way was the Pathway
of Ghosts ; the Northern Lights, the Death
Dance of the Spirits ; the Rainbow was the
Heaven of the Flowers, where they all blossomed
again after fading on the earth, and the shadows
on the moon w^ere the body of an old woman
who had been thrown there by her grandson.

Their picture-writing was very curious and
interesting. The legend relates that Hiawatha
taught the Indians this art, so that they might
be able to remember their history better, and
also be able to send messages to one another.
In this picture-writing the Great Spirit, Gitche
Manito, was painted as an egg, with four points,
extending north, south, east, and west, which
meant that the Great Spirit was everywhere.
Mitche Manito, the Evil Spirit, was represented

THE RED MEN. 25

as a great serpent ; Life was shown by a light
circle, Death by a black circle ; a straight line
meant the Earth, and a bow above it the Sky ;
foot-prints going toward a wigwam meant an
invitation, but uplifted red hands were a sign of
war,

V The Indians also knew, or thought they did,
what all the cries of the different animals meant,
and they believed that these animals could
understand them if they spoke to them. The
bear was the favorite animal among the Indians
and was used most frequently as a totem, and
they had a belief that there was a very large
bear living somewhere in the woods, naked all
over except a spot of white hair on its back,
which was more ferocious than any common
bear, and they used to frighten their children
by saying, " Hush, the naked bear will hear
you, be upon you, and devour you." And the
little Indian boys and girls were just as afraid
of this naked bear as you are afraid of ghosts
and hobgoblins and witches. It is true they
never actually saw the naked bear, but then
neither have you ever seen a ghost.

26 THE RED MEN.

The Indians were a very warlike people, the
different tribes were almost always at war, and
sometimes for .years at a time. In preparing
for battle they used to paint their bodies in very
bright colors, called war-paint, and dress their
heads with feathers ; then all the warriors of the
tribe would assemble for a feast, which was fol-
lowed by a war-dance. A painted post would be
driven into the ground, and the Indians would
dance in a circle around it, brandishing their
hatchets and screaming and shouting in a hid-
eous manner. The night would be spent in this
way, and then the Indians would take off their
finery and go silently through the woods to the
place where they knew the enemy to be. They
did not fear death, as they believed that a brave
warrior went as soon as he died to the Happy
Hunting Grounds, where he would live forever,
and they always buried the dead man's weapons
with him, as it was supposed he would need
them there.

CHAPTER IV.

THE NORTHMEN.

In the far north there is an island so cold and
dreary that from time immemorial it has been
called Iceland — the land of ice and snow and
frosts. Here are no spreading forests or fields
of flowers, but only here and there hardy ever-
greens and a few pale blossoms, that come,
perhaps, just to show how beautiful the place
might become if only the short Icelandic sum-
mer lasted as long as the sunny months farther
south. All around the rocky, frozen shores
break the white waves of the Northern Ocean,
and in the summer one may see the great ice-
bergs sailing past, and hear the voices of the
birds that have come northward for a little visit.

In the winter the days are so short and the
cold is so intense that the children are almost
shut off from out-door life, and are glad to take
up with in-door games and plays. But they

28 THE NORTHMEN.

are very happy in spite of this, for they are
a healthy, sturdy race, and Hke the ice and
cold and snow. In the lono- winter evenins^s
they gather around the fire and listen to the
old stories that have been told in their land
for hundreds of years, the stories of Odin and
Thor and Baldur, for long, long ago the religion
of the Northmen was very different from what it
is now. Then they believed not in one god
but many, of whom Odin was the chief, who
dwelt in Valhalla, the Northmen's heaven. And
no one could enter there who had not died
fighting, which made the Norse heroes very
anxious to die in battle. Perhaps you will re-
member this god better when you hear that
one of the days of the week is named after
him, for Wednesday means Woden's day, and
Woden was only another name for Odin. Thurs-
day is also named after one of the Norse gods,
the great Thor, called the thunderer, who held
a mighty hammer in his hand which no one
else could lift, and of whom every one was
afraid. But of all their gods the people loved
best Baldur, the beautiful ; they called him the

THE NORTHMEN. 29

fair white god, and not only was he beloved by
the people but all things in nature loved him
and had promised never to harm him, all things,
that is, excepting the mistletoe. One day there
was a great company gathered together, and
they all agreed to shoot arrows at Baldur just
to prove that nothing could hurt him ; so they
shot arrows of oak and hemlock and pine, and
they threw great stones at him, but he remained
unharmed amid it all, for all things loved him
and refused to do him injury ; and Baldur smiled
upon the people and they raised their hands
above their heads and vowed that they would
worship him forever. And now entered Hoerder,
an evil spirit, who had found out the secret of
the mistletoe; he asked permission to shoot
an arrow at Baldur, and took up one made of
the mistletoe, the one thing in the world that
could harm the beautiful god. Hoerder took
aim and the arrow sped on its way, and thus
died Baldur the beautiful, by the hand of Hoer-
der the evil one. And the people mourned for
him, and all things in nature wept over the death
of the fair white god. And when hundreds of

30 THE NORTHMEN.

years had passed away, and the people had
ceased to beheve in Odin and Thor they still
loved the memory of Baldur ; and when they
listened to the story of Christ and his death on
the cross, they said He was like the beautiful
one who had been slain by Hoerder ; so the
priests, to please the people, twined the cross
with mistletoe, and to this day at Christmas-
time little English children, descendants of the
fierce Norse rovers, gather the mistletoe, to-
gether with the holly and evergreen, and all
bright and beautiful things, and deck the churches
with them in honor of the birth of Him who
came to destroy evil, and to bring peace on
earth and good-will to men. And thus the name
of Baldur lives, for the memory of the good
can never die, but lives forever in the heart,
even as the stars forever shine in heaven.

Besides the old stories of their gods, the
people of these North countries have many
other tales they relate of things which actually
happened. Living so near the ocean, they were,
of course, great sailors, and often went off on
long voyages, which lasted sometimes a year or

THE NORTHMEN. 3 1

two. In the old histories of Iceland we read
that Erik the Red, as he was called, being un-
justly treated by his neighbors, resolved to leave
Iceland and seek a home elsewhere. So he
gathered his friends together and took ship and
sailed away boldly toward the west. No one
then knew that there was any land west of Ice-
land, so many of his friends expected never to
see him again. But Erik was a brave sailor and
kept sailing on and on, still westward, until one
day he did see land, and then steering southward
along the coast he found a place where he might
land safely. Here he stayed the whole winter,
calling the place Erik's Island ; then he looked
around for a spot suitable to live in always,
and, having found one, a little village was built,
and there he remained two years. When he
went back to Iceland he told the people of the
new land he had found, and called it Green-
land, as he thought that name would sound
pleasant to them, and they would be eager to
go there and live, and so they were, and Erik
soon sailed away again toward Greenland,
taking with him this time twenty-five ships

32 THE NORTHMEN.

filled with people and food and all things they
might need in a new country ; and having
reached the little village which Erik had be-
gun they landed in safety and were soon busy
makinof new homes for themselves in that west-
ern Greenland which had been discovered by
the bold rover Erik the Red.

This happened about eight hundred years
ago. A short time after, Biarni, another brave
Icelander, resolved to go to Greenland too. So
he set sail, and for three days they went on
briskly with a fair wind; then arose a most fear-
ful storm, before which they were driven for
many days, they knew not whither. At length
the storm ceased, and sailing westward another
day they saw land different from any they had
ever seen before, for it was low and level and
had no mountains. The sailors anxiously asked
if this were Greenland, but Biarni said no, it
could not be. Then they turned the ship about
and sailed toward the North for two days, and
again they saw land, but it was still low and
level, and they thought this could not be Green-
land ; so they kept sailing northward for three

THE NORTHMEN. 33

days more, and then they came to a land that
was mountainous and covered with ice ; this land
they sailed quite around, proving- it to be an
island ; they were almost discouraged, but kept
on four days more, and then at last Greenland
came in sight. Erik and his companions list-
ened with great interest to the stories which
Biarni told of the strange new lands he had
seen, but they were all too busy to go in search
of them ; and so it came about that for many
years the places which we now call Cape Cod,
Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland remained un-
known to all of the Northmen except Biarni
and his brave followers.

Finally, Leif the Lucky, son of Erik the Red,
determined to go in search of the strange lands
seen by Biarni. He bought Biarni's ship, and
taking thirty-five men with him, started off on
one of those perilous voyages so clearly loved
by the Norsemen. The first land he saw was
the mountainous, icy island round which Biarni
had sailed, and which Leif named Helluland,
meaning the land of broad stones ; then he sailed
farther south and came to a land low and level

34 THE NORTHMEN.

and covered with wood, which they called Mark-
land, the land of woods ; now they went still
farther south for two days and then touched
at an island, probably Nantucket, and sailing
through a bay between this island and the main-
land, they passed up a river and landed. Here
they built rude huts and prepared to pass the
winter. It was about the middle of autumn, and
finding there wild grapes growing, they called
the country Vinland. Leif and his people were
much pleased with the pleasant climate and fruit-
ful soil of the new country, and stayed there con-
tentedly all winter. The next spring they loaded
their ships with timber and returned to Green-
land. In the meantime Erik the Red had died,
and Leif, on his return, succeeded him in com-
mand of the Greenland colony and made no
more voyages.

But the next year Thorvald, Leif's brother,
went to Vinland and. spent the winter, and the
following summer sailed away down the coast as
far as the Carolinas, coming back, however, in
the autumn to Vinland. The next summer, while
coasting around Cape Cod, they saw on the

THE NORTHMEN. 35

sandy shore of the bay three small elevations ;
these proved to be three boats made of skin,
with three men under each ; they seized all the
men but one, who ran away with his boat, and
they killed all those they had taken. Immedi-
ately, from a small bay, hundreds of small skin
boats were seen coming toward them all filled
with these strange people. Thorvald told his
men to set up their battle-shields and guard
themselves as well as possible, but to fight little
against them, which they did, and the Skrael-
lings, as they called them, shot at the Norsemen
for a time, but at last fled away ; but they had
wounded the brave Thorvald with an arrow so
that he died, and his companions becoming dis-
couraged returned the next spring to Green-
land, after an absence of three years.

But Vinland was now well known, and there
were many voyages made there, chiefly for the
timber, of which there was a great want in
Greenland. The children of Erik the Red were
always ready to go on these voyages, for they
inherited their father's bold and roving disposi-
tion. There is one story which tells of a voy-

36 THE NORTHMEN.

age to Vinland made by Freydis, Erik's daugh-
ter, a cruel, hard-hearted woman, who, during
the voyage, killed her husband's brothers and
seized the ship ; but for this she was punished
by Leif on her return. Then there is another
story of Gudrid, a beautiful woman who had
married Thorstein, Erik's youngest son, who
died while getting ready to go to Vinland. Gud-
rid married after this a man by the name of
Thorfinn, who took her to Vinland to live, and
here was born their son Snorri, who was per-
haps the first white child born in America.

While they were in Vinland, Thorfinn and
his companions had many battles with the na-
tives, or Skraellings, and once Freydis, being
with them, fought fiercely, killing many natives
with her own hand. After spending three years
in Vinland, Thorfinn and Gudrid went to Ice-
land, and remained there the rest of their lives,
and the little boy, Snorri, lived and grew to
manhood, and among his descendants was the
great Danish sculptor, Thorwaldsen.

There are many other tales of these visits of
the Vikings to the New World, but they cannot

THE NORTHMEN. 37

be written here ; but you must remember that
hundreds of years before anything was known
of America to the rest of Europe, the bold Norse
sea-kings came here — Erik the Red, Leif the
Lucky, Biarni, Thorvald, and Thorfinn — and that
Greenland, Newfoundland, Cape Cod, Nova
Scotia, and Rhode Island were well known to
the Northmen at a time when the rest of the
world had never dreamed of a country lying on
the other side of the great Atlantic.

CHAPTER V.

COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.

If you will look at your map you will see on
the western shore of Italy a city which has be-
come celebrated as the birthplace of a great
man. It is called Genoa, the Superb, and in
this city was born, over three hundred years
ago, the man who was to make it immortal.
Genoa is a beautiful city. It looks from the sea
like a great picture. Its churches, palaces, prom-
enades, and gardens stretch in terraces from the
Mediterranean up to the slopes of the Apen-
nines, and behind are seen the ice-covered peaks
of the Alps. It has a mild and healthy cli-
mate, and on the mountains around grow grain,
grapes, oranges, figs, almonds, chestnuts, etc.
The streets of the city are mostly narrow, ir-
regular, and sometimes so steep that carriages
cannot be used in them, although there are a
few that arc straight and handsome. Genoa is

YOUNG COHTMISPS.

COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 39

famed for its palaces and for its great works of
sculpture and painting. But its narrow, crooked
streets are, after all, the most interesting thing
about it, for in them Columbus, when a boy,
walked and played. Of course, having been
born near the sea, he was naturally very fond of
it, and doubtless spent many hours standing on
the wharves watching the ships enter and leave
the harbor, and while yet a boy he determined
that he would be a sailor and spend his life on
the great sea which he loved so well. At ten
years of age he was sent by his father to the
university of Pavia to study navigation and
other things, as it was considered necessary
that seamen should be well educated, although
at that time very few people, even among the
nobles, knew how to write. He stayed in Pavia
nearly four years, and then returned to Genoa
and entered his father's workshop. But here
he remained but a short time, for at the age of
fourteen he went to sea in a vessel under com-
mand of his granduncle, Colombo. For twenty
years he followed the sea, during which time
he was in many battles, always appearing brave,

40 COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.

and often encouraging his sailors by his exam-
ple. During this time he visited nearly all the
ports that were then known, but still he was
not satisfied.

You must remember that at that time no one^
knew the real shape of the earth ; they had no
idea that it was round, but supposed it to be a
flat plane, with the ocean lying around its edges.
What strange things might be found on the
other side of the ocean they did not know.
Some said that this ocean, which they called the
" Sea of Darkness," and which was supposed to
stretch away to the end of the world, had many
large islands lying in it, one of which had been
visited by some bishops who were flying from
the Moors, and who built seven large cities
there — one for each bishop ; but that, having
burned their ships, they could not send back
any tidings to the world they had left. A great
many people believed this, and there were even
some ships sent out to try and find the island,
but of course they never did.

Another story which they were very fond of
telling was, that a giant called Mildum had

COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, 41

actually seen in the western sea an island of
gold, with walls of crystal, and offered to swim
to it with a ship in tow ; but a storm came up,
and the giant went ashore and died, and no one
ever found the golden island.

But there were some thinofs which made it
seem as though there really might be land
somewhere out in the Atlantic. For instance,
Columbus' brother-in-law had seen a piece of
curiously carved wood which had been washed
ashore in a westerly gale, and an old pilot had
picked up a carved paddle very far west of
Portugal. These things were very unlike any-
thing that the Europeans had ever seen before,
and they of course supposed that they must
have been made by some unknown race of men.
Then, besides, cane-stalks of tropic growth had
been washed on the Madeiras, and great pine-
trees on the Azores ; and once, strangest thing
of all, two drowned men, of different dress and
looks from any they had ever known, had been
found on the island of Flores. All these had
come from the West — that great, curious, un-
known West ! Can you not imagine how the

42 COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OP^ AMERICA.

little children would go down to the shore and
look across the sea, and wonder and wonder
what lay beyond it ? They had heard such
strange stories of giants and monsters and cruel
beasts, who were said to live away off there out
of the sight of land, and it all seemed so curious
to them. They could not believe that there
was really land out beyond that blue sea, on
which sometimes they could not even see a sail.
It only looked to them like a great empty stretch
of water, and they felt just as you would feel if
you looked up to the sky some cloudless day.
You would see nothing but the empty blue
stretching away and away and away.

Would you not laugh if some one said to
you, "Come, let us take a boat and sail away
into the sky, and find a new country that some
one says is there ? "

Well, in those days, almost every one thought^
it was just as silly to suppose there was land on
the other side of the Atlantic.

But there were some people who really be-
lieved there was land lying across the great sea,
and one of those persons was Columbus.

COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 43

He was a very wise man, and had learned
all that was then known of geography, and
he felt sure from many things that the earth
was round in shape, and that if he sailed west
across the Atlantic, he would come to land.
He did not dream of finding a new country, but
he thought that the world was much smaller
than it really is, and that by sailing westward
he would come to India much sooner than by
going the usual way.

At that time India was a very important
country. Very rare and beautiful things were
brought from there, such as silks, gold, pearls,
ivory, diamonds, rare woods, and many other
costly and useful things. Great companies of
men were all the time going and coming over-
land to and from India, and it took a long time,
and was a very expensive way of going. The
merchants travelled part of the way on horses
and part of the way on camels, and the long
caravan would go winding across the desert, and
through mountain passes, over the plains, guided
by the stars, or resting at night around great
fires ; and if you could see such a sight now you

44 COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.

would think it was a great gypsy camp. Then,
oftentimes, people who wished to travel to In-
dia, or to the places on the way thither, would
join these caravans, as it was much the cheaper
and safer way, and so there would be found
every kind of people travelling together — Jews,
Arabs, Spaniards, Dutch, and many others^all
on their way to obtain those wonderful and
beautiful things from the East ; if you had lived
at that time, and had started on a journey
to India, it would have been as different from
such a journey now as you can imagine. Then,
after leaving Europe you would have travelled
all the way on the back of a camel ; and although
these caravans sometimes moved during the day,
resting at night, still, much the greater part of
the travelling, owing to the heat of the sun,
was done in the nio^ht-time. About ten o'clock
at night you would have heard the sound of the
trumpets. This was to tell you that the cara-
van was about to move on. Then the tents were
folded up, the camels loaded with the merchan-
dise, the travellers mounted on their horses or
camels, and about midnight, after the third blast

COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 45

from the trumpets, the march would bec^in.
Great kettles of burning pitch would send their
flames flashing over the desert, and the men
and beasts travelled onward throuMi the nieht
by this ruddy gleam. Sometimes, in the earlier
part of the journey, the line of march would lay
along the sea, and then the thunder of Its waves
would be heard minoflingf with the sones of the
slaves and the bells of the camels. Ridine
across a desert is much like sailing across the
sea. There is very little variety. You see the
same thing day after day. In sailing, you see
the sea and sky, and occasionally a ship's sail ;
in journeying across a desert you see the sand
and sky, sometimes an Arab or two looking
wonderingly at the caravan before darting off to
their hidden retreats, and more often only the
bones of camels and elephants scattered on
either side of the route, and dazzling the sight
with their white gleam. The only thing that
would break in upon the sameness would be
the stops at the springs for water and rest,
when the sacks of food and wine were un-
packed from the camels, and the travellers

46 COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.

would alight and stay until the heat of the
day was past.

Of course, you little American boys and girls
have never travelled in this way, but it was the
usual way at that time, and much labor and
time and money it cost ; and so it was consid-
ered that it would be a great gain to the world
if people could find a shorter way of going to
India, and this was one reason why Columbus
wished to see if the world were really round.
For, of course, if it were round, India, they said,
must be riofht on the other side of the Atlantic.
You see they had no idea that this big America
lay in the way between them and India. They
thought that, at the most, there were only some
larcje islands there.

And so _ Columbus thought it all over and
decided to try for himself, and see if he could
reach India by sailing across the ocean. But
he was to have many disappointments before he
started off. In the first place, very few people
thought as he did about the shape of the earth,
and the different countries were unwillinor to risk
men and money in an undertaking which they

COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 47

were sure would amount to nothing. Columbus
tried to obtain help from his own people ; first,
from the republic of Genoa, then from the repub-
lic of Venice, and the court of Portugal, and for
seven years he tried to get help from Ferdinand
and Isabella, the king and queen of Spain. And
at last, after ten years of waiting and seeking,
the wished-for help came. Isabella, queen of
Spain, listened to Columbus' plans, and liked
them so much that she said she would send the
expedition out at the expense of her own king-
dom of Castile, and, if necessary, would pawn
her jewels to get enough of money ; but this last
she did not have to do.

It was hard work to find sailors willinof to q-q
on this long voyage across the unknown seas,
and many of the men had to be forced into the
service ; but after three months' delay the expe-
dition was ready, and on August 3, 1492, the
three ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and
the Nina, left the port of Palos on the most won-
derful voyage that has ever been undertaken —
the voyage which ended in the discovery of the
great New World.

48 COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.

And so Columbus sailed away toward the
sun setting. In about a month he reached and
passed the Canary Islands, the farthest known
land. This was on Sunday, September 6, 1492.
And then the voyage really began. The day
passed, and, as the sky and the sea grew dark,
the sailors became terrified, and when at last
night fell, and they lost sight of the land which
bordered the great sea of darkness, they wept
from fear, and said they should never return to
their homes. Columbus had a hard time to quiet
their fears, but finally they grew calm and lis-
tened to his descriptions of the beautiful country
toward which they were sailing. And so they
went on, sometimes hopeful and sometimes de-
spairing, and once they made a plot to throw
Columbus overboard and then turn the ships
about and go home, but happily this was not car-
ried out. As they advanced, the oldest sailors
were deceived by frequent signs of land. On the
26th they entered into a region where the air
was soft and balmy, and fields of sea-weed began
to appear. " This day and the day after," said
Columbus, " the air was so mild that it wanted

COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 49

but the song of the nightingales, to make it like
the month of April in Andalusia."

One evening, just as the sun was going down
there came a cry of ''Land!'' from the Pinta,
which was leading the other ships. Columbus
had promised a reward to him who should first
see land, and Martin Alonzo Pinzon, who was
ahead in the Pinta, now claimed the reward.
He said that he saw land in the west ; they all
looked and saw a dark, cloudy mass about
twenty-five leagues away. Columbus and the
sailors knelt and sang Gloria iit Excelsis Deo /
but in the morning, when they looked again for
the hoped-for land, they saw nothing but the
wide sea stretching away as far as the eye could
see. The land which Martin Pinzon had seen
from the stern of the Pinta had been but a
cloud, which had disappeared in the night.

But Columbus sailed on with hope and faith
in his heart. Again and again they thought they
saw land, and again and again they were disap-
pointed ; but at last they saw land-birds flying
around, a piece of carved wood was picked up
by the Pinta, and the Nina secured a branch of
3

50 COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.

thorn with red berries, which was drifting by,
and Columbus felt sure that they were near their
journey's end. The men were called to even-
ing prayer, and the vesper hymn to the Virgin
floated out over the waves of the Atlantic, the
first time probably that a Christian hymn had
ever been sung upon that darkening sea. Then
Columbus ordered a double watch to be set.
" We shall see land in the morning," said he.
He spent the entire night on the deck ; no one
slept ; they were all too much excited at the pros-
pect of seeing land. Can you not imagine how
rejoiced Columbus must have been to think that
at last his long and weary voyage was nearly
over, and that he had been right in saying that
the world was round, and that there was land
across the ocean ? Ah ! no one can understand
how he felt, for no one before or since ever
started out on such a voyage as that. A voy-
age across the great, mysterious, unknown sea,
which was supposed to extend to the ends of
the earth, and on whose farther borders demons
and terrible beasts were thought to live.

At ten o'clock that night Columbus, looking

COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 5 1

wistfully seaward, saw a light ; he called to two
of the sailors, one of whom saw the light and
one did not. At two o'clock the next morning,
being Friday, October 12, 1492, the Pinta fired
a gun, the signal for land. Rodrigo Triana, a
sailor of the Pinta, was the first who saw the
New World. The ships lay to, and all waited
impatiently for morning.

The day broke, and the New World lay be-
fore them. About six miles away they saw an
island thickly covered with trees and with crowds
of natives running up and down its shores.
At sunrise the small boats were lowered, and
Columbus, bearing the royal standard of Cas-
tile, and Martin Pinzon and his brother, each
bearing a flag with a green cross, were rowed
to the shore to the sound of music. Columbus
first stepped on the beach, the others followed,
and all knelt and kissed the ground with tears
and thanks to God. Then Columbus rose,
shook out the gorgeous red and gold flag of
Spain, and drawing his sword, took possession
of the island in the name of the crown of Cas-
tile, calling it San Salvador,

52 COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.

The wondering natives looked on in silence ;
they thought their visitors were gods who had
come down from heaven, whereas the Span-
iards thought they had never seen a place so
much like heaven as this beautiful island. Birds
of gorgeous plumage hovered above them,
while others made the place sweet with their
music. The air was soft and pleasant, and flow-
ers and fruits were abundant. After their long
sea voyage they found it a most pleasant spot,
and would gladly have remained there for a
long time.

But Columbus did not consider that his
work of discovery was yet done. Some of the
natives, who wore ornaments of gold, told him
of a country in the south from which it had
come ; so Columbus, taking seven of the natives
with him, started off to find this land of gold,
which he supposed to be Cipango (Japan). He
did not find the gold which he sought, but he
did find something else — the island of Cuba —
which he first thought was Cipango, but after-
ward concluded it was the mainland of India. He
then sailed on, discovering the island of Hayti,

COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 53

which he thought was Ophir, that land of gold
from which had been brought the cfold and
jewels for Solomon's Temple. He called this
island Hispaniola, or Little Spain, and, building
a fort there of the timbers of the Santa Maria,
and leaving in it thirty-nine men, he sailed for
Spain, in the Nina, taking with him several
natives. Martin Pinzon had in the meantime
started off gold-hunting, on his own account, in
the Pinta.

During the voyage back to Spain a fearful
storm arose, and it was thought that the ship
must go down ; of course, if this happened the
people in Europe would never know what had
become of Columbus and his sailors ; so he
wrote an account of his voyage and discoveries,
and, sealing it up in a cask, threw it overboard.
But the storm at last ceased and they reached
the Azores in safety, where the crew attended
mass and gave thanks for their preservation.
In March, six months from the time of their
sailing, the Nina entered the harbor of Palos.
Columbus was received with great honors by
Ferdinand and Isabella. He was allowed to sit

54 COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.

in their presence while he told the story of his
wonderful adventures. The Spanish are a peo-
ple very fond of romances and tales of daring,
but never before had they listened to such a
story as this. A story that told them that
Spain would forever stand in history as the dis-
coverer of a new world. No fairy tale was so
marvellous as this. Aladdin's wonderful lamp
and the vale of diamonds in the Arabian Nights
were not to be compared to the riches of this
new country, where the sands of every river
sparkled with gold, where the stones and rocks
shone with its glittering light, where the walls
of the houses were studded with jewels, and
where the poorest native wore ornaments that
kings might envy. And in addition to these
dazzling splendors they spoke of the mild and
healthful climate, of the rare and delicious fruits
that grew so abundantly, of the beautiful flow-
ers, of the birds with sweetest songs and the
most gorgeous plumage, of the rivers whose
waters were health-giving, and of a wonderful
fountain which gave immortal youth to all who
mioht drink of it.

COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 55

And so Columbus had no difficulty in fitting
out a second expedition ; men were eager to go,
eager for gold, and, what was perhaps better,
eager for glory ; they did not have to be pressed
into the service this time. In September, 1493,
Columbus sailed from Cadiz with a fleet of
seventeen ships and fifteen hundred men. But
he had left his good fortune behind him ; never
again would such bright skies bend above
him ; never again would he sail under such be-
nignant stars ; henceforth his life was to be
saddened by disappointment, and made bitter
by the envy and hatred of those whom he had
served.

Many of the men who took ship with him
on this second voyage were led to do so from
the love of gold, and when they reached the
New World and did not find the gold they
sought, they grew angry and mutinous and
quarrelsome, throwing the blame on Columbus,
who, they said, had deceived them. It was not
pleasant to govern such a lot of unruly, discon-
tented men ; but Columbus was a man who never
flinched in the face of danc^er, no matter of what

56 COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.

kind; he kept on his way in spite of the mur-
murings of his men, and was rewarded by the
discovery of the Windward Islands, Jamaica
and Porto Rico — then he founded a colony in
Hayti, and leaving his brother, Bartolomme6,
to govern it, sailed for Spain, reaching Cadiz
about three years after his departure from it.

Here he soon cleared himself of the com-
plaints made against him, and silenced those
who were jealous of his fame. Once, while
sitting at table, a courtier said that, after all, it
was not such a great thing to have discovered
the new world, any one else could have done it.
For answer Columbus asked him to make an
egg stand on its end ; the courtier tried, but
could not do it. Columbus then struck the egg
on the table, breaking the shell a little, and then
stood it on the table.

" Any one can do that," said the courtier.

" When I have shown you the way," replied
Columbus.

The courtier was silent, he knew well what
Columbus meant.

And now there was to be still another Voy-

COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 57

age made. In 1498 Columbus left Spain with
six ships, and sailed across the Atlantic, taking
a route more southerly than he had before done.
This time he discovered the mouth of the Ori-
noco, which he, still supposing that the country
he had discovered to be Asia, thought was the
river Gihon, which rose in the garden of Eden.
He then skirted along the coast of South Amer-
ica, passing the islands of Trinidad and Mar-
garita, and then turned toward Hispaniola,
where he hoped to recruit his health. He found
the colony in a sad state, and while trying to
restore peace he again became the object of
jealousy and malice. A commissioner named
Francisco de Bobadilla was sent from Spain to
settle the trouble, and his first act was to put
Columbus and his brother in chains and send
them to Spain.

" Are you taking me to death, Vallejo ? "
asked Columbus, sadly, when the officer came
to lead him from his cell.

The officers of the ships wanted to take off
his chains, but Columbus replied, " I will wear

them as a memento of the gratitude of princes."

3*

58 COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.

When he arrived in Spain, the people were
very indignant at the treatment which he had
received ; and the king, in order to quiet them,
said that he had not ordered Cokmibus to be
put in chains. But the real reason why he had
allowed him to be thus insulted was that he was
disappointed at finding that the New World,
after all, was not rich in gold and silver, and
after nine months of waiting Columbus only saw
a new governor appointed over Hispaniola, and
no notice taken of his injuries. One more voy-
age and then Columbus' work would be over.
In 1502 he received command to sail in search
of a passage leading westward from the Gulf of
Mexico, which was then supposed to be a sea.
He believed he should find a strait somewhere
near where the isthmus of Panama now is, and
that by passing through this strait he would
reach the continent of Asia. On his way out he
stopped at his colony at Hispaniola, where he
hoped to refit, but was refused permission ; he
sailed alone the south side of the Gulf of Mexico,
but did not find the strait for which he M-as look-
ing, and after much suffering from famine and

COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 59

Other hardships, he returned home. Here he lay
sick for some months ; his old friend Queen Isa-
bella was dead, and King Ferdinand refused to
give him any reward for his long and faithful
service. He was seventy years old, poor, and
in ill health. To quote his own words, he had
" no place to go to except an inn, and often with
nothing to pay for his food." And so the dis-
coverer of the New World, suffering, neglected,
deserted by those he had spent his life in serv-
ing, died while repeating the Latin words,
" Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit."
They are the last words of a great man ; a man
who lived a noble life, and who met death as
bravely and fearlessly as he met the unknown
terrors which lay in his way when he sailed for
the first time across the great " sea of dark-
ness." Seven years after his death the people,
for very shame's sake, placed a marble tomb
over his remains, with the inscription :

" A Castilla y a Leon,
Nuevo mondo did Colon."

6o COLUMBUS AND DISCOVERY OF AMERICy\.

(" To Castile and Leon, a new world gave
Colon.")

Afterward his remains were taken to St.
Domingo and placed in a cathedral in that city.
And nearly two hundred years later they were
removed with great pomp to the cathedral at
Havana, where they rest within sound of the
waves of the sea, in that beautiful city, where
the air is indeed "like the spring in Andalusia,"
balmy and soft, perfumed with flowers, and made
musical with the songs of birds.

CHAPTER VI.

THE CABOTS.

About the time of the discovery of America,
there was living in England an old man, who
loved the sea better than anything else in the
world. He was not an Englishman, but a Vene-
tian, and many years before he had left his
home in beautiful Venice to seek a home in
England. The name of this old man was John
Cabot, and he was considered one of the great-
est sailors living. He had guided his ships
among the islands of the Mediterranean, and
had sailed up the Atlantic coast to the British
Isles, and then, not satisfied, he had gone on
into the frozen regions of the North, and had sat
by Iceland firesides listening to the tales of the
Norsemen and their wonderful voyages across
the sea to a New World. And while he list-
ened he thought what a fine thing it would be
if he too should sail away some day to visit this

62 THE CABOTS.

Strange country ; so after returning to England,
he asked permission of the king to fit out some
ships and go on a voyage of discovery. He
had heard of the voyage of Columbus, and he
thought that by sailing far to the north he
might find new lands as rich and beautiful as
those which Columbus had discovered. So
about the year 1494, or 1497, he sailed from
England, taking with him his son Sebastian.

Very different was their voyage from that of
Columbus ; keeping ever to the north, the
waters of the Atlantic showed them no genial
skies, or islands adorned with waving forests
and beautiful flowers, but instead, they found
fog and mist, cold, chilling winds, and great,
glittering icebergs. The first land seen by them
was Cape Breton, which they called Prima Vista,
^meaning first seen. They found the country
cold and dismal, covered with ice and snow.
As this new land was no farther north than
England, they were surprised to see instead of
green meadows, shady trees, and flowing rivers,
only fields of snow, and while they knew the
birds were singing in England, they saw here

THE CABOTS. 63

great white bears, which prowled around seek-
ing their prey.

Cabot did not remain long in America, he
soon sailed again for England, which he reached
three months from the time he had left. His
voyage is important, as he was the first Eu-
ropean, after the Northmen, to touch the main-
land of North America.

On his return he was received with great
honor by the king. He went about dressed in
silk and velvet, and everywhere great crowds
would follow him and point him out as the Great
Admiral.

In 1498 Sebastian Cabot sailed with another
expedition from England and reached the coast
of Labrador. He tried to find a northwest
passage to Asia, but the climate was so cold
that he gave up the idea and sailed down the
coast as far as Virginia, claiming the whole
country for the King of England. He made
still another voyage and explored Hudson's
Bay, but the accounts which he gave of the
country were not very pleasing, and no English-
man was willing to leave his own pleasant home

64 THE CABOTS.

to seek another in the New World, and for
many, many years after this the EngHsh paid
Uttle heed to the great continent which Cabot
had discovered.

Sebastian Cabot Hved to be an old man, and
was always greatly honored by the English.
He was called the Great Seaman, and as long
as he lived he loved the ocean over whose
waters he had sailed to honor and fortune.

VESI'UCIUS r.ANDINO TO CHASTISE THE CANNIBALS.

CHAPTER VII.

AMERICUS VESPUCIUS.

As soon as it became known in Europe that
there really was land across the Atlantic, all the
nations wished to send ships and men to gather
the gold which they supposed to be there. The
Spaniards, of course, thought that they had the
best right to the new country, but the English
and French sent out expeditions, and soon there
arose a great quarrel as to whom the New
World should belong. One of the most inter-
esting voyages made at that time was that of
Americus Vespucius. Like Columbus, he was
an Italian, having been born in the beautiful
city of Florence, but at the time of the discovery
of the western world he was living in Spain.
Vespucius sailed across the sea, and in the sum-
mer of 1499 (the year after Columbus discov-
ered the Orinoco), he landed on the coast of
Venezuela. Here he saw a queer little village

66 AMERICUS VESPUCIUS.

which looked as if some children had been try-
inor to build a "make-believe" Venice. The
village was built on piles driven into the water,
and the houses, which were of such a shape
that they looked like big bells, could only be
entered by means of drawbridges. Each house
had its own bridge, and when the owner wished
he could draw the bridge up and no one could
get in, and there he was just as safe as a turtle
when it shrinks into its shell.

Vespucius and his men had never seen any-
thing like it before and looked at the funny little
place in astonishment. But as soon as the na-
tives saw the Spaniards, they drew up all their
bridges and disappeared ; in a few minutes,
however, Vespucius saw twenty-two canoes
filled with these savages comingf toward his

o o

boats ; as soon as they got near enough they
began shooting arrows at the Spaniards, and
then Vespucius, seeing that they did not mean
to be friendly, ordered the guns to be fired.
The Indians were terribly frightened by the
noise and smoke of the guns ; they had never
seen such things before, and very soon they

AMERICUS VESPUCIUS. 6/

rowed back to the shore, and Vespucius sailed
on farther south. When he landed next he
found a more friendly tribe of Indians ; they
were at first afraid of the Spaniards, and ran
away when they saw them coming. Vespucius
and his men went into the wigwams and found
that the Indians had fires burning, upon which
young alligators were roasting. By and by the
Indians, seeing that the Spaniards meant no
harm, came back and treated their guests so
kindly that Vespucius stayed ' there nearly two
weeks, visiting, in the meantime, some of their
villages which were built back from the sea.
The natives grew very fond of him, and hun-
dreds of them followed him back to his ship, but
when he ordered the cannon fired they all
jumped back into the water and swam away.
But Vespucius did not mean to harm them, so
he called them back, and then the Indians and
Spaniards exchanged presents and Vespucius
sailed away. He still kept to the coast of Ven-
ezuela, and sailing northwest entered the bay
of Cremana. Here he found the natives friendly
and remained with them more than a month,

68 AMERICUS VESPUCIUS.

and they begged him to help them kill their
enemies, who lived on an island in the sea, and
who were a very great and powerful tribe, and
came every year and took away many of their
number whom they killed and ate. Vespucius
promised to help them, and taking seven of them
with him as guides, he started off for the island.
As soon as the cannibals saw him coming
they gathered on the shore ready for fight.
They were covered with war-paint and feathers,
and armed with arrows, lances and clubs. At
first it seemed that the Spaniards would be
beaten, as the Indians pressed around them so
closely they could not use their swords, but
finally the cannibals were driven back. Ves-
pucius then tried to make friends with them,
but they would not do so, and after a two days'
fight he conquered them, burned their town, and
sailed away with two hundred and fifty of them
whom he sold for slaves on reaching Spain.
This seems a very cruel act now, but in those
times it was thought to be quite right to sell
captives taken in war, and so Vespucius only did
what he thought was perfectly fair.

AMERICUS VESPUCIUS. 69

When Vespucius got back to Spain, he
wrote a letter to a friend of his in Florence, giv-
ing an account of his voyage and the lands he
had visited. This letter was published a year
or two afterward, and as it was the first printed
account of a visit to the rnainland of the New
World, it was read with much wonder and in-
terest by the people who wanted to learn all
they could of the strange lands beyond the
ocean.

J jNo one knows just how it happened that the
new country was called America. Some of Ves-
pucius' friends thought that the New World
ought to be called after him, but it was well
known that the honor of the great discovery
belonged to Columbus alone. At any rate it
came about that after reading Vespucius' book,
people began talking about the land of Americus
Vespucius, and finally it came to be called the
land of Americus, or America. But although
the great country itself is not named after Co-
lumbus, yet mountains, rivers, and towns bear
his name, and in poetry and songs, the United
States, the greatest American country, is often

70 AMERICUS VESPUCIUS.

called Columbia ; while in South America, one
of the principal divisions is called the United
States of Colombia. All of which shows that
the people of the New World are very ready to
honor its great discoverer.

CHAPTER VIII.

PONCE DE LEON.

Once upon a time there was an old man
who had found Hfe so fair a thing that he wished
to Hve forever, and to be forever young. He
was born in Spain, and his childhood and youth
and early manhood were so happy that when
he grew old he was sad and wanted to bring
the lost years back. Of course he could not do
that ; new summers may come and new winters,
but the years themselves never come back any
more than do the same clouds, or the same sun-
set, or the same rainbow. But de Leon, for
that was the old man's name, did not believe
this. When a child he had read many stories
and romances in which wonderful things were
done. He had all a Spaniard's love for adven-
ture, and he believed there were things on the
earth and in the earth which possessed strange
power over the life of man. As he grew older

72 PONCE DE LEON.

he was taught to ride and fence, and many
other things which it was considered necessary
for a Spanish gentleman to know, but all the
time he was dreaming over these marvellous
things he had heard. When he became a man
he entered the army, and was always a brave
soldier, and eager for adventure of every sort.
He sailed with Columbus on his second voyage,
and afterward was made governor of the island
of Porto Rico.

Here in his island home he was not happy,
although he had power, and wealth, and fame,
for he sighed for the years that were gone, and
dreaded the time to come when life would be
no longer pleasant, for he was growing old and
must die.

And then he heard such a wonderful story,
that while he listened, it seemed as if the years
of his childhood came back and smiled upon
him. Among the natives of Porto Rico it was
believed that somewhere amono- the Bahama
Islands there was a fountain of eternal youth ;
and that whoever should bathe in this fountain,
and drink of its waters, would find his lost youth

PONCE DE LEON. 73

again and be forever young. The Spaniards
believed this story as well as the Indians, and
when de Leon heard it he determined to go in
search of the wonderful fountain. As he was
very rich, this was not a hard thing to do ; he
bought three ships and fitted them out with men,
and started off. He sailed for some time amone
the Bahamas, looking for the magic fountain,
and one day, Easter Sunday, March 27, 15 12,
he came in sight of an unknown shore. He
thought he had discovered another island more
beautiful than any of the rest. Never before
had he seen anything so delightful as this new
land ; the ground was covered with the most
gorgeous flowers, and above, great trees spread
out their green boughs and waved them in the
soft air, and sweet-voiced birds sang among
the fragrant blossoms. It seemed as if he had
sailed into a world where there was nothing- but
beauty, the native home of bird and blossom,
the land of eternal summer. De Leon named
the new country Florida, partly because he dis-
covered it on Easter Sunday, which is called by
the Spaniards Pascua Florida (flowery Easter),

74 PONCE DE LEON.

and partly because it was indeed a Land of
Flowers. After a few days he landed a. little
north of the place where the city of St. Augus-
tine now stands, and took possession of the
country in the name of the King of Spain. He
then began again his search for the wonderful
fountain, feeling sure that here where the flow-
ers forever bloomed, and the birds ceased not
to sing, he should drink the waters of immor-
tal youth. But though he wandered through
the forest, sailed up the silent, shady rivers, and
searched eagerly along the coasts, never, save
in his dreams, did he hear the music of the foun-
tain, or see its waters shining in the sunlight.

He returned to Porto Rico, and the king
made him governor of the new country and sent
him back there to found a colony. But when he
landed he found that the Indians were all ready
for war ; there was a dreadful battle, many of
the Spaniards were killed, and the rest had to
go back to the ships for safety. De Leon him-
self was mortally wounded by a poisoned arrow,
and was taken to Cuba, where he died ; and al-
though many people still believed that the won-

PONCE DE LEON. 75

derful fountain would some day be found, it
never was, for the flowers that close at night
will open again in the morning, and the little
stream that starts from the mountain and goes
down to the sea, will have its waters carried
back by the clouds to the mountains again, but
the years that we leave behind us come not
again, they have gone away forever with the
daisies and buttercups and violets that shone in
the meadow last year.

CHAPTER IX.

VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA, THE DISCOVERER OF
THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

Among the many adventurers who found
their way to the New World after its discovery
was one named Balboa. He was a very bold,
brave man, always ready for adventure and
eager for gold and fame, as were all the Span-
iards of that time. But Nunez de Balboa,
besides being bold and brave, was also very
cruel when he had the chance, and sometimes
dishonest. Whenever he could he robbed
the Indians of their gold, and often cruelly
murdered them ; and if he thought he could
steal from his fellow-soldiers and friends, he was
ready to do that, too. So, altogether, he was
a man not very much liked among the people
with whom he lived in Hispaniola, and because
of this, and also because he owed a great deal
of money that he did not wish to pay, he

VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 'J']

thought it would be a fine thing to run away
and let his friends get back the money they had
lent him as best they might.

There were always ships touching and leav-
ing Hispaniola, and Balboa thought nothing
would be easier than to go on one of these
ships some fine day and sail away to some new
place where he would have better chances for
borrowing and stealing than where he was so
well known. But he found it much harder to
get away from Hispaniola than he had thought.
Either he had no money to pay for his passage,
or the captain would not take such a trouble-
some character on his ship, or the people whom
he owed would not let him go without their
money, or all three of these reasons together,
for at any rate at the last moment he slipped on
board a vessel that was just going to sail, and
hid himself in a big empty cask, and had to lie
there hardly daring to breathe lest he should be
heard and put on shore again. But every one
was busy trying to get the ship under way, and
no one thought of looking into empty casks to
see if there were men hiding there, and it was

78 VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA.

not until they were far, far from land that Bal-
boa ventured to put his trembling head out of
the cask and look fearfully around. All the
sailors and passengers crowded around, very
much surprised to see a man's head sticking
out of what they had supposed to be an empty
cask, and the captain was very angry indeed at
the cheat that had been practised upon him,
and vowed he would stop the ship at the first
desert island he came to and put Balboa ashore
and leave him there to starve to death.

And then the bold runaway quite lost his
brave heart and fell upon his knees and begged
with tears that the captain would not treat him
so cruelly, quite forgetting that he himself had
often done things just as cruel, and the cap-
tain, moved by the wretched man's tears and
prayers, or perhaps because there was no desert
island in sight, or even a passing ship that
might be hailed to take the runaway back, said
that he might finish the voyage with them.
Balboa thanked the captain and promised good
behavior, but in his heart he was very angry
because of the threat to put him on a desert

BALBOA IN SEARCH OF THE UNKNOWN SEA.

VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA, 79

island, and determined to be revenged on the
captain if possible.

Before very long his chance came. A ter-
rible storm came up and the vessel was dashed
to pieces upon a strange coast. Encisco, the
captain, felt very glad now that he had kept
Balboa on the ship, for, although the country
was unknown to the captain and his crew, it
was not unknown to Balboa. He had been
there before, and said that he knew of an In-
dian village not far away, where they could find
food and shelter. Encisco was very glad to
hear this, and they all started off under the
leadership of Balboa to find the river Darien,
on which the Indian village stood.

They had been wrecked on the coast of Da-
rien, and although neither Encisco nor any of his
men had ever been there before, yet other Span-
iards had, and had treated the natives cruelly
and unjustly, as was their usual way of dealing
with them. So when Encisco and his followers
tried to march through this strange country
they found it very hard work, as the natives
attacked them at all times, day and night, kill-

80 VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA.

ing some, wounding others, and keeping them
all from getting food. But Balboa was a skilful
leader and knew how to deal with Indians, and
after a time they reached the village, though
weary and foot-sore and almost starved.

Balboa's boldness made him very much ad-
mired by some of the shipwrecked sailors, and
soon a large party of them, attracted by his
stories of bravery and adventure, declared that
they would much rather have him for a captain
than Encisco. This was just what Balboa
wanted, and as his party grew larger and larger,
and Encisco's friends fewer and fewer, Balboa
at last declared that Encisco should no longer
govern the little colony, as he himself was much
more fit to be governor. Most of the party
agreed to this, and so Balboa became governor,
and a very cruel, bloody tyrant he proved. All
the Indians around feared and hated him, and
even his own men could not love him, and only
respected his courage.

One day the son of an Indian chief came to
Balboa and told him that some days' journey
away there lay a great sea, and on the other

VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA.

side of it a country so rich that the people ate
and drank out of gold and silver dishes. The
Spaniards in those days were ready to believe
anything that the Indians said, and if Balboa
had heard that the new sea was full of golden
islands, and that the clouds rained diamonds
and rubies into its depths, and that its waves
threw pearls and corals on its beach, he would
almost have believed it all ; and when he heard
this wonderful news he immediately gathered
his men together and started off to find the new
sea.

Again they had to fight tribe after tribe of
Indians, who constantly tried to make them
turn back, but the Spaniards pushed on, and
after a hard journey, which took them quite
across the Isthmus of Darien, came one day to
a high mountain, from whose top the guide said
the great sea could be seen.

Balboa ordered all his men to stay below,
while he climbed up the mountain alone, as he
wished to be the first Spaniard to look upon the
great ocean that so many brave adventurers had
tried to find. So Balboa went alone up on the

82 VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA.

mountain peak, and, looking down on the other
side, saw a vast body of water stretching away
and away. The Indian's story had been true.
Here was a great new ocean that no European
had ever looked upon before. Balboa looked
north and south and west, and saw only this
blue sea, shining and peaceful, as if its waves
had gone to sleep.

Balboa knelt down on the mountain-top and
thanked God that he had been permitted to
make this great discovery, and then he beck-
oned to his followers, who came rushing up and
stood looking in wonder at the great sight be-
neath them.

The men piled up heaps of stone in token
that they had taken possession of the country
and ocean, and as they went down the slopes of
the mountain, Balboa carved the name of Fer-
dinand upon the trunks of trees. Then twelve
men were sent on ahead to find the shortest
path to' the shore, and Balboa, cruel as ever,
gave orders that all the natives they should
meet should be tortured and killed unless they
would tell them where their stores of gold were

VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 83

hidden. The twelve men went on, and reaching
the shore, saw two Indian canoes that had been
washed up on the beach by the waves, and as
the tide crept up and floated them off, two of the
men — Alonzo Martin and Blaze de Atienza — -
stepped into them, thus being the first Spaniards
to sail upon the new ocean which Balboa had
named the South Sea. A few days after, Bal-
boa arrived at the shore, and wading into the
water, waved his sword solemnly, and took pos-
session of all the great ocean, and the islands
that might be in it, and the countries that bor-
dered it, in the name of the King of Spain, and
vowed to defend them against all other Eu-
ropean adventurers.

This was in the year 15 13, one year after the
discovery of Florida. And so Spain claimed
the Pacific as well as the Atlantic coast of
North America.

The news of this great discovery at once
made Balboa famous. All over Europe men
talked of the bold man who had been the means
of adding still more glory to the Spanish name,
and as a reward for his services, the king made

84 VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA.

him Adelantado, or chief ruler, over all the great
sea he had discovered.

But among the Spaniards in Darien, Balboa
was very much feared, and now that he was in
such great favor at the Spanish court, every one
dreaded that he would be more cruel and heart-
less than before, because he had so much more
power. And besides, his companions were jeal-
ous of his fame, and thought that the honor of
discovering the South Sea belonged quite as
much to them as to him, quite forgetting that
but for his courage and perseverance they would
have turned back long before the sea came in
sight.

The man who disliked and feared Balboa
the most was Peter Anias, the Governor of
Darien, and about five years after the great dis-
covery, he managed to get Balboa into his
power, and ordered him to be beheaded.

This was done, and thus perished one of the
greatest of the Spanish discoverers.

CHAPTER X.

CABECA DE VACA.

And now that Florida had been discovered,
and the great South Sea added to the posses-
sions of the Spanish crown, it was thought it
would be a wise thinor to settle as much of the
New World as possible, so that when all its treas-
ures were found they would already be in the
hands of the Spaniards and there would be no
trouble about it. And so many expeditions were
sent out from Spain. These expeditions always
had two objects in view. First, to get what gold
and silver might be found in America, and sec-
ond, to find a short passage to the East. Peo-
ple had never given up believing that there
must be a short way of getting from the east-
ern coast of America to India, and ship after
ship was sent to seek the strait which was sup-
posed to lead across the continent. For, impor-
tant as the discovery of a new world seemed, it

S6 CABECA DE VACA.

was considered just as important to find a short
way to the East, and when once the passage
was found, to sail through it with Spanish ships
and make its wealth a part of Spain. Very
wonderful stories were told of the countries in
the East — of Cathay, and Mangi, and Cipango
— which had been visited by the great traveller,
Marco Polo, and the man who could find the
shortest way thither, would, of all men, receive
the highest honor from the King of Spain.
And so every one who sailed from Spain looked
first toward America and then beyond it to the
East. And no wonder, for these countries were
richer than Mexico and Peru, more fertile than
Florida, and more beautiful than Fairyland
itself. There was nothing in the world that
one mio-ht want that could not be found within
the borders of these lands. For ages and ages
this kingdom had been ruled by the great race
of Kublai Khan, and these monarchs had no
other thought than to make their kingdom the
most beautiful and glorious of the whole earth.
They had built great cities, and strong forts,
and extensive highways ; it was said that within

CABECA DE VACA. 8/

the Province of Mangi alone were twelve thou-
sand cities, all within a short distance of one an-
other. Chief of these cities was Quinsai, which
covered a hundred miles of ground. On one
side of it was a river, and on another side
a lake, and through it flowed clear, winding
streams spanned by twelve thousand beautiful
bridges, which were so lofty that ships passed
under them with ease. The streets were
wide and bordered with palm trees, and fra-
grant flowers bloomed all the year round in
the gardens and parks. All the dwellings
were of marble, and the temples and palaces
were ornamented with precious stones. Ware-
houses of stone stood in different parts of the
city, filled with costly merchandise, silks and
velvets, and cloth of gold, and all manner of
rare articles made of gold and silver and moth-
er-of-pearl, curiously and beautifully beaten and
engraved. And crystal fountains kept the air
pure and fresh, and great birds with gold and
silver wings flew lazily from tree to tree, and
one could not tell whether the city was more
beautiful by day, when the sun shone down

88 CABECA DE VACA.

upon it and brightened the marble roofs and
charming gardens, or by night, when the moon
and stars were reflected in the lakes and rivers,
and when the fountains glistened white in the
moonlight, and the great squares and lofty
palaces were illumined with a million crystal
lamps.

Most beautiful of all the palaces was that of
the king, which stood in the centre of the
city on a hill overlooking all the country
round. It was so large that it covered ten
acres, and its wide, lofty corridors, beautified
with groups of magnolia and palm, seemed
like magnificent avenues stretching from one
palace to another.

Within the enclosure were groves of pine
and oak and many rare trees, and gardens
filled with choicest flowers, and lakes on which
swans floated, and in whose waters rainbow-
hued fishes darted hither and thither. The
palace itself was of the purest white marble,
its roof was wrought in gold and supported by
hundreds of pillars of pure gold, wonderfully
adorned in azure arabesque, and having the

CABECA DE VAC A. ' 89

capitals studded with precious stones ; and all
the air was sweet with perfumed fountains, and
ever)'where it was continual summer from the
abundance of flowers and the songs of birds.

And the king and all his people enjoyed
their beautiful city as much as possible, for they
were so rich they had to work very little, and
spent the greater part of every day in pleas-
ant amusements. At any hour one might see
pleasure parties on the lakes and rivers, which
were always covered with gilded boats, and
barges with silken awnings, under which ta-
bles were prepared for banquets. And every-
where through the city were scattered invit-
ing bowers, where the people sat when tired
with walking, and watched the long proces-
sion of elegant chariots, luxuriously fitted up
with cushions of silks and velvet and drawn by
richly caparisoned horses. And besides these
every^-day amusements there were a great many
days held sacred to the gods, when there were
great feasts lasting ten or twelve days, and
when ten thousand guests were entertained at
a time.

90 CABECA DE VACA.

And the health and comfort of the people
were provided for as well as their amusement,
for there were elegant marble baths, and a num-
ber of fine hospitals for the care of the sick, and
a wonderful system of lighting the houses and
palaces, so that the night seemed almost turned
into day again, and a well-trained fire-depart-
ment, always ready to act at any moment, and
in fact, everything that could be done to make
the people healthy and happy, and to protect
their lives and property, was done. And all the
children went to school in the public parks and
gardens, for in that beautiful climate it never
rained or was cold, and so there was no need
of school-houses, and the boys and girls studied
botany, and geology, and astronomy out of
doors, and no doubt found it very pleasant.

And Marco Polo, summing up his descrip-
tion of the wonderful place, says, "And this
city, for the excellence thereof, hath the name
of the city of Heaven ; for in the world there is
not the like, or a place in which are found so
many pleasures, that a man would think he
were in Paradise."

CABECA DE VACA. 9I

And all the other countries ruled by the
great Khan were as rich as Mang-i. In Armenia
were tens of thousands of beautiful cities filled
with works of art, and out in the open country-
were wonderful hot springs which cured all
manner of diseases, and on the top of one of the
high mountains Noah's ark still rested. And
Cathay also held many rich towns. Among
them, Cambalu, where the king had a marble
palace with a roof of gold, as in Quinsai. And
here, ten thousand soldiers guarded the palace,
and the royal stables, wherein stood five thou-
sand elephants. Great public roads led out
from Cambalu to all the other cities in the em-
pire, and along these roads were stationed post-
houses where the king's messengers could find
rest and refreshment, and where there were ele-
gant apartments in which the king himself might
rest when on his journey through the empire.
All the king's errands were done by swift
messengers, who ran from one post-house to
another. These messengers wore belts from
which hung gold and silver bells, and as soon
as one station was reached, the letters and mes-

92 • CABECA DE VACA.

sages were given to another messenger and
carried on to the next station, and so on, the
tinkhng of the bells notifying the waiting mes-
senger to be in readiness. And so, not a mo-
ment was lost ; the messengers ran swiftly over
the fine roads, scarcely noticing, in their haste,
the beautiful scenery or the many works of
art that adorned the way, which led through
deep, shady forests, and wide, pleasant mead-
ows, and over the numerous rivers and canals,
spanned by lofty bridges built of rare stone and
costly marble, and ornamented with rows of pol-
ished columns and great stone lions, and curious-
ly graven images of gods, and men, and animals.
The roads extended from one great city to
another, joining the most distant places to-
gether, and the Khan spent a summer in one
place and a winter in another, and every city
tried to outshine the rest. In the summer
months the Khan spent much of his time in
his palace at Ciandu, which was as magnificent
as Cambalu. Here the palace extended over
sixteen miles, and ten thousand white horses
stood in the king's stables.

CABECA DE VACA. 93

All this country was guarded by soldiers,
who were like the sands of the sea for number,
and the great generals were held in such esteem
by the king that they were allowed to live in the
most magnificent style. They all sat in golden
chairs, and rode on milk-white horses, and trav-
elled in gorgeous chariots, or in beautiful barges
with silk and velvet awnings to keep off the
heat of the sun. And so mighty was the Khan,
and so great were his generals, that all the
other countries round were very glad to live
peaceably, and try in every way to please such
a powerful monarch. The riches of this coun-
try were beyond description ; mountains of
turquoises reached to the clouds ; the lakes
were full of pearls ; everywhere were gold and
silver mines ; the rivers sparkled with gold,
and the valleys were rich in diamonds. And
everywhere, too, there was an abundance of
choice fruits and nuts, and rare spices which
grew in the gardens all the year round, so
there was no lack of them summer or winter.
And the people dressed in the richest stuffs,
silk and velvet, and cloth of gold, embroid-

94 CABECA DE VACA.

ered with pearls and turquoises and dia-
monds.

And in Cipango, too, which lay east of
Mangi, out in the sea, could be found the
same magnificence. Here were palaces and
temples, with roofs covered with golden plates
and floors paved with gold and silver, and here
also the people were rich and prosperous and
happy.

And when the news of all this wealth
reached Europe it was at once determined to
seek those far lands, and, if possible, to bring
the gold and pearls and diamonds to Spain and
France, and other European countries, and
many expeditions were sent out ; but none of
them ever reached Cathay, for all the American
Continent and the great Pacific Ocean lay in
the way, and the short passage to the East was
never seen except in the dreams of some daring
adventurers. But it was years and years before
men gave up searching for it. France and
Spain sent many men to look for it, and if they
did not find Cathay they at least found many
curious and wonderful things in America, and

CABECA DE VACA. 95

SO it came about, after a while, that America
itself was pretty well known, and many at-
tempts were made to settle it. Spain tried
very hard to establish her colonies in the New
World, and expedition after expedition was
sent across the sea. With one of these expe-
ditions sailed Cabeca de Vaca, a Spanish noble-
man, and his account of the trials and misfor-
tunes of the settlers shows how very difficult it
was to establish a Spanish colony in America.

The expedition was commanded by Narvaez,
who landed his men at Tampa Bay, two days
before Easter, 1528. They immediately deter-
mined to leave the coast and go into the inte-
rior of the country in search of gold, although
De Vaca tried very hard to persuade the cap-
tain to remain near the ships. But here the In-
dians were not friendly, and the country farther
away was said to be rich in gold; and so a short
time after landing, a part of them started off to
find the gold region which the Indians said was
up in the Appalachian Mountains. But they
found travelling through this strange country
very hard work. Soon after their arrival at

q6 cabeca de vaca.

s

Tampa Bay they had angered the Indians by
burning the bodies of some chiefs that they had
found in a Httle village, and the natives now-
tried in every way to show their hatred. They
refused to act as guides, and the Spaniards had
to toil through swamps and rivers and forests,
often losing their way and always in danger of
attack from the Indians. At length their food
gave out, and then they had to depend upon
the fruit that could be found, and so at last,
when they reached the little Indian village of
Apalachen, they were quite heart-sick, and glad
to find shelter and rest. They found no one in .
the village excepting women and children ; all
the men had fled to the woods. The village
was built in the fnidst of a great swamp, and
although it held some maize and other pro-
visions, they soon found there was no gold
there, and that all their long journey had been
in vain. And then, too, the Indians kept lurk-
ing around, and not only attacked them and
burned the wigwams in which they were living,
but made it very unsafp for the Spaniards to
leave shelter at all. A man could not lead his

CABECA DE VACA. 97

horse to water without being" in danger of
death, and as this kept growing worse and
worse, they decided to leave Apalachen and go
back to the sea. But many days and nights
passed, and the sea seemed as far off as ever.
They were without food, and had to depend
upon getting maize from the Indians, and as this
could only be done by force, many battles were
fought and many lives were lost, and besides
this trouble many fell sick and died from
starvation and hardship. But, hard as it was
to go on, it would have been harder still to re-
main, for that would mean certain death at the
hands of the Indians ; so they toiled on, discour-
aged and hopeless, and at the end of fifteen
days found themselves at last at the sea-coast.
But it was not Tampa Bay, and no Spanish
ships appeared in sight on which they might
embark and sail back to Spain again. And the
men, quite worn out, laid down on the sands in
despair, and doubted if they should ever see
their homes and friends aeain.

But after a little while their courage came
back, and they tried to think of some way of

98 CABECA DE VACA.

getting back to the ships or of reaching some
Spanish settlement. It was impossible to think
of travelling by land, and at length they de-
cided that they would have to make boats and
put out to sea with them. But how hard it
seemed to undertake boat-making without tools
and materials ! It was thought impossible at
first to do more than make some large rafts, but
by and by they discovered that their spurs and
cross-bows and stirrups could be beaten out
into nails and axes and saws and other tools,
and that cordage could be made from the
manes and tails of the horses, and that the
seams could be caulked with palmetto fibre
and pitched with pine rosin ; and, in fact, with
time and patience, they managed to build five
very good boats, living in the meantime on
horse flesh and shell-fish and the maize which
they could get from the Indians. When at last
they were ready to start, forty of the men had
already died of sickness and hunger besides
those that had been killed by the Indians.
They kept along the coast for some weeks,
hoping to reach a Spanish settlement on the

CABECA DE VACA. 99

western coast of the Gulf of Mexico, but they
could not find this place, and as it was not safe
to land anywhere else on account of the Indi-
ans, they had a most wretched voyage, suffer-
ing from cold and hunger and drenched with
rain, and finally separated from one another by
a fearful storm which drove the boats far apart.
De Vaca's boat was thrown upon an island,
and so hard was it to get it off again into the
sea that the men had to take off their clothing
and wade into the water to dio- the boat out of
the sand, and in doing this many of them lost
their lives ; for no sooner did the boat touch the
water than it was upset in the surf, and not
only were some of the men drowned, but every-
thing in the boat was lost, and De Vaca and
his friends found themselves on this strange
island with no boat or food or clothing. But,
as it happened, the Indians on this island were
kind and pitiful. They built fires to warm
the sufferers and gave them food, and when
after a few days, they were joined by some men
from the other boats, they found that their suf-
ferings had been no worse than their friends',

lOO CABECA DE VACA.

for all had met with the same hard fate. They
stayed here many months, and one after an-
other of the company died, until only De Vaca
and three others were left.

These four remained many years among the
Indians, wandering- from one tribe to another,
always trying to hear of some Spanish set-
tlement where they might meet friends. Some-
times the Indians were kind to them, but oftener
they were treated very cruelly. Several times
it happened that they were taken captive and
held as slaves, and then their lives would have
been most miserable, had it not been that the
Indians grew to respect them because they
knew so many things that they themselves
were ignorant of. De Vaca and his compan-
ions really thought that they had the power of
curing disease by making the sign of the cross,
or repeating pater nosters, and, as in some
cases the sick got well, the Indians grew to rev-
erence the white men and hold them in great
esteem. But De Vaca and his friends could not
grow fond enough of the Indians to be willing
to remain among them. Their thoughts were al-

CABECA DE VACA. lOI

ways with the land of their birth, and so they
pushed on through the unknown country, Hving
on roots and nuts and the fruit of the prickly
pear, suffering from the cold and heat, from
which they had no clothing to protect them, and
always in danger of death from hostile Indians.
In this way they travelled through forests and
swamps, across prairies and deserts, over moun-
tains and rivers, for six years, and at last their
courage was rewarded. They came one day to
the sea, and they found there a Spanish settle-
ment. Their countrymen, who had come there
for gold and emeralds, received them with great
kindness, and listened with wonder to the story
of their wanderings. De Vaca learned that they
were now on the coast of the Gulf of California,
and that they had travelled from Tampa Bay,
through the country bordering on the Gulf of
Mexico, and through Mexico itself to the sea
coast on the other side, having passed over
more territory in North America than any other
travellers had yet done.

De Vaca and his three friends returned to
Spain as speedily as possible, where they were

I02 CABECA DE VACA.

received as heroes of adventure, whose romantic
story passed from place to place, and instead of
discouraging others, only made them the more
eager to visit those strange lands themselves,
for every one felt sure that if he had been in De
Vaca's place he would surely have discovered
the gold and silver and precious stones that
were supposed to be hidden away in the ever-
glades of Florida, or in the mountains of Apa-
lachen, or in the rivers and valleys of Mexico.

THE MESSENGERS OF MONTEZUMA.

CHAPTER XL

HERNANDO CORTEZ AND THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO.

High on the table-land of Mexico there
was once a beautiful city which was built
partly around the shores of a lake and partly
on islands within the lake. It had broad
streets and fine buildings, and its temples
were among the most beautiful in the world,
the principal one, that which was devoted to
the worship of the sun, being ornamented
with gold and silver and precious stones ; here
and there were great public squares around
which splendid temples were built, and in
the centre of the city in one of these great
squares stood the temple of the god of
war. The people who lived in this city were
Aztecs, a tribe of Indians very different from
those of the. Atlantic coast. They worshipped
the sun and the moon, and, above all, they
worshipped the terrible god of war, in whose

104 HERNANDO CORTEZ.

honor they burned the bodies of the enemies
they captured in battle. The temples were at-
tended by priests, who were held in great honor
by the people, and in every temple there were
little boys who were being trained to the priest-
hood. On great festival days the priests and
boys and all the people would form a grand
procession and march all around the city, sing-
ing and playing on instruments. The lake on
which the city was built was one of the finest
in the world, and the Aztecs were fond of
building floating gardens on its waters ; these
gardens were very beautiful, with flowers of all
kinds, and vegetables were also cultivated in
them. The palaces of the king and nobles
were built of stone and of great size, and very
elegant, being ornamented sometimes with gold
and silver. The Aztecs were a very powerful
people, and all the nations around them were
afraid of them and acknowledged the Aztec
king as theirs ; and everywhere from the Pa-
cific to the Gulf of Mexico were great roads
leading from the city down to the coasts, so that
the king could send messages at any time from

HERNANDO CORTEZ. IO5

one part of his kingdom to another ; all over
the country outside the city were great fields,
where cotton, corn, wheat, sugar, coffee, and
other thinofs were raised. The Aztecs did not
dress in skins, as did the Indians farther north,
but they wove cotton into cloth and made gar-
ments of that. They also had a written lan-
guage and wrote their history down in books.
The name of the king was Montezuma, and all
his people loved and worshipped him as a god,
and when he looked over the city and saw the
turrets and spires of the palaces and temples
glittering in the sunlight, and the floating
gardens, filling the lakes with beauty and fra-
grance, and the fields rich with harvest, and
the green forests, stretching away to the base
of the great volcano whose snowy peak shone
in the golden light of the sun, he felt that his
was, indeed, a great and fair kingdom, beautiful
and strong and happy.

But the riches of this great city had been
heard of across the sea, and the Spaniards, as
ever eager for gold, resolved to make its wealth

their own. So an army was sent from Cuba to

s*

I06 HERNANDO CORTEZ.

conquer Mexico, and Hernando Cortez was
made its leader. Cortez was a brave soldier,
but a cruel and treacherous man. In the year
1 5 19 he landed his troops at Tabasco on the
southern coast of Mexico; he found the natives
prepared for war, but they were soon glad to
fly from the Spaniards, leaving many of their
number killed. Cortez then went on to Vera
Cruz, where Montezuma had sent messengers
to meet him ; these messengers brought with
them magnificent presents of gold and jewels
which they gave to the Spaniards, at the same
time trying to persuade them to go away from
their country. But Cortez would not go away ;
he said he was going to the City of Mexico to
see Montezuma himself, as the King of Spain
had ordered him to do, and for fear his soldiers
would not go with him, he burned all his ships
so they could not go back to Cuba if they
wanted to.

The Aztecs returned to Montezuma and
told him that the Spaniards were on their way
to his city. Montezuma did not know what to
do ; for although he was a good and kind king,

HERNANDO CORTEZ. 107

he was not a great soldier. He sent other
messengers and more presents, and command-
ed Cortez to go back, but Cortez pressed on.
Now among the Aztecs there was a tradition
that, hundreds of years before, their country-
had been visited by a glorious stranger from
the East, a child of the sun, who had taught
them how to till the ground, and all the arts
of peace and war ; and he lived with them
many years, and they loved him and wor-
shipped him as a god, and the stranger was
very beautiful to look upon, with hair like the
sunlight and eyes as bright as the stars, and
his skin was as white as the snow which glis-
tened on the tops of the volcanoes. And one
day he called the Indians around him and told
them that he must go away forever, but that
some time in the years to come a race would
come from the East, children of the sun like
himself, and that they would demand the Aztec
Kingdom for their own, and that it would do
no good for the Indians to fight these stran-
gers, for they were the children of the sun
and could conquer all before them ; and so

I08 HERNANDO CORTEZ.

saying, the stranger from the East vanished
from their sight, and they saw him no more,
though they mourned for him many days ; for
he had gone into the mysterious West, whence
the sun goes at night, for all things that come
from the East find a home at last in the land of
the sunsetting, but save the sun himself, noth-
ing ever comes back from that land, but all
things remain forever hidden by the shadows
which lie on its borders.

And so when Montezuma heard that the
Spaniards, who were faired-skinned and light,
compared with the Indians, were resolved to
come on to his city, he thought that perhaps
they might be the children of the sun, and if so,
it would be of no use to try and repel them ; and
when at last Cortez came up to the city, he went
out to meet him and gave him a courteous wel-
come.

The Spaniards were rejoiced when they saw
the beautiful city, for they thought that its splen-
did palaces and treasures would soon be theirs..
Montezuma led Cortez into the city and gave
him a large and elegant building for his quar-

HERNANDO CORTEZ. IO9

ters, and to every soldier in the army magnifi-
cent presents were made. The army was quar-
tered in the great central square, near the
temple of the god of war ; it was in the winter,
and for a month Cortez remained quiet ; he and
his soldiers were allowed to go about, and were
even permitted to enter the temples and exam-
ine the altars and shrines, where the Mexicans
offered up human beings every day as sacrifices
to their gods. But the thing that interested the
Spanish general most were the vast treasures
of gold and silver, the huge storehouses filled
with provisions, and the great arsenals filled
with bows and arrows. He saw that the Aztecs
were well prepared for war, and began to grow
a little alarmed for his own safety. He knew
that by lifting his finger Montezuma could fill
all the squares with armed soldiers, and prevent
the Spaniards from leaving the city, and he
knew also that the Indian warriors were no
longer afraid of his men, as they were at first,
when they thought them immortal ; so thinking
over all these things, Cortez resolved upon a
bold plan. He knew that if he could get pos-

no HERNANDO CORTEZ.

session of Montezuma the people would be
afraid to make war on him ; so, one day, he
asked Montezuma into his quarters, and then
refused to let him go out again, saying that he
would kill him if the people should attack the
Spaniards.

Cortez was now obliged to leave Mexico for
a short time to oppose a force that had been
sent aofainst him from Cuba. While he was
gone, Alvarado, the general he left in com-
mand, attacked the Mexicans one day when
they were celebrating a great feast, and killed
five hundred of their priests and leaders. The
Aztecs became furious, and attacked the palace
where Alvarado and his men were, and they
would soon have conquered the Spaniards had
not Cortez come back just in time.

Cortez tried to make peace, but the Mexi-
cans would not listen to him. In a few days
the fighting began all over the city, and the
streets were stained with the blood of tens of
thousands. Then Cortez compelled Monte-
zuma to go upon the top of the palace, in front
of the great square, and ask his people to make

HERNANDO CORTEZ. Ill

peace with the Spaniards. The Aztecs wor-
shipped Montezuma as a god, and when they
saw him standing on the palace roof, they
dropped their weapons on the ground, and ev-
ery head was bowed with reverence. But when
he asked them to make peace with the Span-
iards, they grew very angry and immediately
began fighting again. Montezuma was wounded
twice by their arrows, which so alarmed the Az-
tecs, that they stopped fighting again ; but soon
the battle re-commenced, and in a few days
Cortez was compelled to leave the city. In the
meantime, Montezuma had died in the Spanish
camp ; the Spaniards had treated him kindly to-
ward the end, and had nursed his wounds, but he
refused to take any food, and died at last from
a broken heart. Cortez now saw that there
would have to be a great battle fought, so he
made ready his men. On the morning of the
battle he looked out from his camp and saw the
Mexican soldiers extending as far as the eye
could reach ; he trembled when he saw this
great army of men, knowing that his own troops
were few, but he resolved to conquer or die.

112 HERNANDO CORTEZ.

Without giving his men time to think, he began
to attack the enemy ; at first the Aztecs gave
way, but others came in their stead, for the
whole valley was lined with armed Indians. The
Spaniards gave up hope, and prepared to die,
but just then, Cortez advanced to the Mexican
standard-bearer and snatched the sacred stand-
ard from his hand. The Mexicans believed that
on this standard depended the fate of every bat-
tle, and that if it were captured, there was no
use in fighting any longer. Cortez knew this,
and when they saw it in his hands, they threw
down their arms and fled to the mountains, and
thus the Spaniards won the battle.

And so Cortez conquered Mexico, and all its
vast wealth passed into the hands of the Span-
iards ; its fertile valleys and rich plains, its
beautiful capital and prosperous villages, its
great mines of gold and silver, its thousands
and thousands of inhabitants, all became the
property of the King of Spain, a man who
cared nothing for the conquered people, but
thought only of the great wealth that had so
unjustly become his. The gold and silver

HERNANDO CORTEZ. II3

mines of Mexico were then the richest in the
world, and the conquered Aztecs were obhged
to work in these mines as slaves, but the gold
and silver was no longer used to ornament
their temples and palaces ; it was sent across
the sea to Spain, who thought more of gold
than she did of honor or justice.

It was in the year 1521 that Cortez con-
quered Mexico, and for three hundred years it
was ruled by Spain ; at the end of that time it
became again free. The Mexicans of to-day
are partly Indians and partly Spanish in race,
but there are some who remember with pride
that they are the descendants of the ancient
Aztecs, and they point to the ruins of the great
temples, which may still be seen in the new Cap-
ital, as an instance of the wealth and power of
their nation when the Aztecs ruled from ocean
to gulf, and when from mountain peak to lowest
valley every heart beat with pride in thinking of
the glory of the kingdom which Montezuma
called his own.

CHAPTER XII.

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

Francisco Pizarro was a little Spanish
boy who was very poor and very miserable.
Living in a beautiful valley where the climate
was agreeable, and where one might gather
grapes and chestnuts and oranges at will, it
might have been quite possible for him to be
poor and happy, too, but there were many
things about Francisco's lot that were harder
to bear than poverty. Many other children
dwelt in this pleasant valley, some of them as
poor and wretched and ragged as Francisco,
and others who were rich and well clothed and
happy. Not far from the little hut that was
Francisco's home was a stately castle, where a
great duke lived, and the little boy would often
go and stand by the stone wall that enclosed
the grounds, and wonder how it would seem to
live in that splendid mansion, and be allowed

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. II5

to walk in its beautiful parks. Once in a while,
when the gates were opened to let in a crowd
of gaily-dressed visitors, or when the duke, at
the head of a laughing party, went forth on a
merry hunting expedition, he would catch a
glimpse of the velvet lawns and shady trees and
gorgeous flowers, and could see children dressed
in dainty garments, and sometimes wearing beau-
tiful jewels, playing on the grass or swinging
under the trees. And Francisco would look
and look with eyes big with wonder till the gay
party had passed and the gates swung back in
his face, and he was left out there in the dusty
road alone. And then he would turn and watch
the hunting party until the brilliant scene faded
quite away in the distance, and he was once
more left alone. It always seemed to him that
no matter how gay or happy this bit of the
world might seem, it always ended in his being
left outside of that gray stone wall, alone and
hungry and ragged, and that in fact these
glimpses of another, happier life were only after
all just like his dreams, which were sure to fade
away when morning came. He could not help

Il6 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

sighing sometimes and wishing that the dream
would go on for him just as it did for the other
children inside the stone wall. Once it did go
on just a moment or two, for one day as he
stood dejectedly by the gates, they opened, and
a beautiful child came out who spoke to him
kindly. He was dressed in a suit of velvet, and
his long hair fell in curls over his shoulders, and
in his cap was a little pearl ornament which
fastened a bird's wing. And Francisco, as he
looked at the wing, thought he had never in his
life seen anything so wonderful, for the feath-
ers were soft like velvet, but glowed and burned
in the sunlight like the rubies in the ring on the
child's hand.

He raised his hand and touched the lovely
object, and the wearer of the cap, being as
kind-hearted as he was beautiful, began to tell
Francisco the story of the wing — how it had
been given to him by a great soldier, who had
brought it from a long way off, farther than he
himself had ever been ; farther than the moun-
tains or the sea even.

Francisco wondered at this, and when the

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU, 11/

child passed on he stood still thinking a long
time ; it seemed so strange to hear that there
were other places and countries besides this quiet
little valley where he had always lived. Then
he went back to his work, disagreeable work
it was, very, for he had to watch the swine and
keep them -from straying off; but that night his
dreams were brighter than ever, for he dreamed
that he had visited those strancre lands that he
had heard of from the child, and that he had
found enouQfh treasures there to make him rich
and o-reat. The morninof came and the dream
was gone, but it left behind a thought that did
not go away. And always after the boy Fran-
cisco carried with him the resolve to make his
dream come true. But for many years there
seemed no hope of anything beyond the mean
life he was living, and sometimes he quite de-
spaired. He was very proud and ambitious,
too, and his lowly lot in life seemed all the more
bitter when he compared it with that of the
more fortunate boys who had good comfortable
homes and could go to school. He thought
that he should have a good home and go to

Il8 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

school too, for his father was a man of wealth
and of good birth ; but his mother was only a
peasant, and it was with her he had always
lived, and the poor woman could not afford to
bring up her child in comfort, or even to have
him taught to read and write. And so Fran-
cisco grew to be a big boy, and still watched the
pigs from morning till night, and still sighed
restlessly to get away from his distasteful life,
and find one fairer and nobler.

One day, when he was quite a big lad, a
stranger came to the little valley ; he was an
old, weather-beaten sailor, and had sailed across
distant seas and journeyed through many
strange lands, and at night, when the peasant
boys were through with their day's work, they
all eathered around him and listened to his tales
of the great world that lay beyond the moun-
tains that shut in their quiet little valley, just as
the stone wall shut in the duke's palace.

Francisco listened with the others, but his
heart beat wildly, for, as the old man talked, it
seemed that he was again in the land of his
dreams. And no wonder, for the sailor's stories

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. I I9

were very wonderful and quite true, for he was
one of the men that sailed across the ocean with
Columbus on his first great voyage. He had
seen with his own eyes that far-off, beautiful
land, where the air was always soft as the
spring in the valleys, and where the flowers
bloomed forever, and the trees bore delicious
fruits ; he had heard the reports of its moun-
tains of gold and mines of precious stones, and
rivers whose waves tossed gleaming pearls upon
the beach. And it was all true, and all this
wealth and beauty lay there waiting for bold
hearts and brave hands to claim and keep, for
the people of that far country were only poor
savaofes, knowinsf nothincr of the value of the
gold and gems they wore, and were so ignorant
that they thought the Spaniards were the chil-
dren of some great god, and were ready to fall
down and worship their beauty and strength
and courage.

And the old man talked till the stars came
out, and the moon had climbed far up the sky,
for never before had there been told such won-
derful news as this, for all the stories of the fab-

120 riZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

ulcus wealth of the East had come true at last,
and no one could doubt any more. By and by,
as the days passed, the sailor told other stories
of other countries, where the soldiers of Spain
were winning great victories, and although his
words were forgotten by most of the boys, yet
Francisco and one or two others thought of
them often and pondered over them, and thought
what a fine thing it must be to be a soldier
fighting for honor and glory. And as time
went on they talked more and more about this,
and at last they resolved to leave their old mis-
erable life behind them forever, and go out into
the world and seek their fortune. But they had
to be very careful and secret, for they meant
to run away ; the summer was gone and the
autumn had come to the valley before the three
boys found a chance to carry out their plan,
and one morning when Francisco and his friends
were called to go to their distasteful work, they
did not answer, for they were far on their way
up the mountains, and had said farewell to the
valley forever. It was pleasant travelling
through the hospitable country roads, and after

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 121

they had gone so far that they had no fear of
being overtaken, they went on merrily enough.
Francisco's heart was the Hghtest and bravest.
He had most detested his old life, and now he
most rejoiced that it was past.

So the boys journeyed on and crossed
the mountains and passed through the fertile
valleys and then climbed other mountains, and
everywhere the kind country folk gave them
food and drink and shelter, and the young
travellers thought they had never had grapes
and chestnuts and goat's milk taste as good be-
fore, as they ate and drank under the trees by
the road-side or in some peasant's cottage ;
and by and by the journey was over, and they
were in Seville. And now the runav/ays found
they were out in the world indeed. No one in
all that great, splendid city cared in the least
whether they lived or died, whether they suf-
fered from hunger or thirst, or whether they
had a place to lay their heads at night. But
they kept brave hearts, got what they could to
eat, slept where they could at night, and spent
the days in wandering through the streets and

122 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

getting acquainted with the hfe of a great city.
And although they were not sure where bread
and cheese were to come from and where they
were to He down at night, still the wonderful
sights of this new life, the magnificent houses,
splendid palaces, costly dresses, and, above all,
the companies of mounted soldiers that were con-
tinually parading the streets, all drove thoughts
of home from their minds, and they did not re-
gret in the least that they had exchanged the
village of Truxillo for the glitter and show of
Seville.

In a few days Francisco decided that he
would join the army and go to Italy, where-
the Spaniards were then fighting, and as the
king wanted all the soldiers he could get, and
as he was large and well developed for his age,
he had no trouble in enlisting in one of the
regiments, and when he put on the gaudy uni-
form and began to live in camp, he felt, indeed,
that his old life was over and that Francisco
Pizarro was quite a different person from the
ragged little urchin that tended pigs at Trux-
illo.

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 1 23

But there was one sad thing about it, and
that was the parting from his two friends, for
Pizarro's regiment sailed very soon for Italy,
and it was with great sorrow that he said fare-
well to the two companions who had shared the
excitement and danger of his escape from home.
However, the noise of war soon drove sad
thoughts from his mind, and so eagerly did he
enter into his new life that he soon became one
of the best soldiers in the regiment, and so re-
nowned for bravery that by the time the war
was over and the army ready to return to Spain
he had been made a lieutenant. This only made
him more ambitious, and as he found life in the
city very stupid for the next few years, because
there was no fighting to be done, he was very
glad when he heard one day that a great expe-
dition was to be sent out to America, and that
any one who was brave and daring might join
it and so have a chance of gaining riches and
fame. He hastened to Cadiz at once, and as
his courage and bravery were well known, had
no trouble in being made one of the company ;
and when, in a few days, the ships left Cadiz

124 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

and started on their long voyage across the At-
lantic, Pizarro thought with great joy that he was
on his way to those strange lands at last, and
that perhaps his old dreams might come true.

The voyage was a stormy one, but at last
they came safely to Hispaniola, and there Pi-
zarro learned, what all newly-arrived Spaniards
were not slow to learn, that of all restless, rov-
ing lives, those of Spanish adventurers were
the most so. They were never content to re-
main in one place, but went hither and thither
in their mad search for gold, always hoping to
find something better, and always ready to risk
their lives for the sake of bettering their for-
tunes. And so, no sooner had Pizarro become
a little acquainted with the country at Hispani-
ola than he straightway caught the mad fever
for moving on to some new place ; and as there
were constant reports of the wealth of the coun-
tries of Central America and Mexico, he de-
cided that those places would suit him better
than Hispaniola, and he accepted an offer to
go to Darien, meaning to explore the country
and see for himself what riches it contained.

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 125

At that time Balboa was also living in Da-
rien, and Pizarro was one of the company who
went with him across the isthmus to discover
the Pacific. In this expedition Pizarro noted
the country well, and was rejoiced to see the
gold and gems which were bestowed upon him
by the friendly chiefs, and when he returned to
Darien he was very willing to become the leader
of an expedition that the governor of the colony
was fitting out, to conquer lands on the Pacific.
The party reached the ocean in safety, and
Pizarro immediately resolved to get all the
treasure he could before any other Spaniards
should have a chance to come there. On his
former visit he had heard from the natives that
there were great quantities of pearls to be found
on some islands lying out from the land, and
now he at once called part of his men together,
and leaving the rest on the shore, started out in
canoes to reach the islands. The sea was
heavy, and the canoes were capsized more than
once, but they reached the islands at last, only
to find that the natives were thronging the
beach ready to drive them off as quickly as they

126 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

should land. But Pizarro was not to be driven
back, and after a hard fight, the Indians re-
treated to the woods and left the Spaniards in
peace. They began their search for pearls at
once, and found them in such quantities that
Pizarro named the spot the " Isle of Pearls,"
and after gathering a great store of these pre-
cious gems, and securing also a great deal of
o-old, he went back to Darien with his treasures
and reported that the country was as rich as
Cathay or Mexico.

The governor of Darien, on hearing this
news, thought it would be a very good plan to
move his capital from Darien across the isthmus
so that he would be nearer the riches of the land,
and in a short time the greater part of the col-
ony were living in Panama, and eagerly watch-
ing for opportunities of gathering gold and
gems.

Here Pizarro lived like a great man. He
had a fine house and a long train of Indian ser-
vants, and flocks, and fields, and was looked
upon as a rich man and a brave soldier. But
he was not quite satisfied. Often, as he walked

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 12/

in his broad fields, he would look toward the
north, where lay the land of Montezuma, the
land that Cortez had conquered, thus winning
for himself lasting honor and glory, besides
great wealth, greater than Pizarro could ever
expect to gain in his quiet home in Panama.
And then he sometimes looked southward, too,
and wondered what lay there beyond the blue,
misty horizon. It could not be possible, he
thought, that Cortez and Balboa had made
all the great discoveries ; perhaps there were
other lands away there in the south as rich
and great as Mexico. Perhaps it might be
his good fortune some day to discover an em-
pire as boundless and wonderful as that of
Montezuma. So he pondered, day after day,
over what the future might bring, and al-
ways listened eagerly for tales of the lands
to the southward, where lay the great ocean
that Balboa had discovered. And one day a
visitor came to his home, who told him just
what he wanted to hear, that there zvas a very
great and powerful empire far south of Panama,
and that with a good band of resolute soldiers,

128 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

and a brave leader, it might be easily conquered.
And as Pizarro listened he resolved that he
would be the leader if he could only find men
enough to follow him on his perilous under-
taking.

Very wonderful things did the traveller tell
of this new country, for a very wonderful coun-
try it was, and as Pizarro heard the accounts
of its wealth and prosperity, it seemed to him
that the old stories of Cathay and the realms of
Kublai Khan were actually true. And, indeed,
this country that lay to the south, protected on
one side by the ocean, and on the other by its
giant, snow-capped mountains, was more like
the old dreams of Cathay than any land that
had yet been seen by the Europeans.

The empire of Peru, like that of the Aztecs,
had existed for hundreds and hundreds of years,
and its ruler, the mighty Inca, like the great
Montezuma, was a descendant of the Sun. He
•was therefore held in great reverence by his
subjects, as a child of their great god. For the
sun was the principal deity of the Peruvians.
In his honor were built the most splendid tern-

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 1 29

pies that the world has ever seen. In Cuzco,
the capital of Peru, was a temple of the sun that
was so magnificent it was called the " Place
of Gold." The walls were covered with solid
plates of burnished gold, and on one side was
the image of the sun, made of purest gold, its
face glittering with diamonds and emeralds and
rubies, and the long golden rays reaching from
the ceiling to the floor.

In Cuzco, also, was the Temple of the Moon,
adorned with silver, and with an image repre-
senting the goddess of night ; and all the ser-
vice of the temples was of the purest gold and
silver, curiously wrought and beaten, and the
great altars were ornamented with great golden
lilies set with pearls and diamonds, and the
lamps were brilliant with pendant emeralds and
rubies and sapphires.

The Peruvian empire extended from Cuzco
to Quito, and everywhere throughout the do-
minion were splendid cities, in which were great
palaces and temples, all glittering with gold and
silver, and all showing the wealth and power of
the Inca^ These cities were connected by great

I30 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

public roads that led from one end of the empire
to the other, and it is said that in no country in
the world were there such fine highways as
those in Peru. The roads were very wide and
covered with a substance that hardened and be-
came very smooth and even, so the messengers
could run easily, and on either side were mass-
ive walls, built of great blocks of stone, while
inside thenvalls ran clear streams of water, bor-
dered with beautiful trees. The principal road
ran from Cuzco to Quito, straight on through
mountains which had been cut away, and over
rocky precipices, across which suspension
bridges were thrown, and through valleys that
had been filled up to the level with lime and
stones. A day's journey apart on the roads
stood the king's palaces, beautifully furnished
and fitted up with everything that a traveller
might need, and so pleasant was travelling in
this country that a long journey seemed only a
succession of pleasant trips through delightful
forests and amid grand mountain scenery. And
all day long, up and down these roads, passed
the servants of the Inca, carrying messages and

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 131

burdens from one part of the empire to the
other, and all over the country the people were
busy and happy, working for the emperor whom
they loved and revered. There were no poor
people in Peru, for the Inca owned all the land
and mines and palaces, and he gave to each
family enough to support them comfortably,
while they in return worked for him, and for the
weak and sick, who could not care for them-
selves. The men worked in the gold and silver
mines, and on the public roads, and built the
temples and palaces, and tilled the fields, and
raised the sheep, the wool from which was spun
and woven by the women into beautiful cloth,
dyed with rare colors, and interwoven some-
times with threads of gold and silver. And al-
though some of the laws were very strict, yet
for the most part they were just and merciful ;
and so the whole empire seemed liked one great
family, of which the Inca was the loved and
trusted head.

On great festival days the great public
squares in the cities were thronged with the
people who came in from the country to take

132 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

part in the celebration. And there were many
festival days during the year, and so the Peru-
vians had a great deal of pleasure, for on a
holiday no one ever thought of working. The
reason of this was that most of the festivals
were of a religious nature, and it would have
been considered a sin not to observe them.
The most splendid festival of all the year was
the Feast of the Sun. This was always held
at Cuzco, and from every part of the empire
the people came flocking to the capital, and for
days and days before, the roads were filled with
travellers on their way to the great feast. The
celebration began with the dawn, and as soon
as it became light the inhabitants began to
pour into the great central square, or to throng
the balconies and housetops which overlooked it.
All the city was gorgeously decorated, flags and
banners floated from the columns and roofs of
the temples and palaces, and rich cloths of daz-
zling hues, embroidered in gold and silver and
precious stones, hung from the windows and
balconies, while everywhere were great urns of
gold and silver and stone, filled with flowers.

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 1 33

and rare shrubs and plants brought from the
surrounding country. On this day the Inca
appeared in his greatest glory and state. Clad
in a robe of the softest and most beautiful ma-
terial, embroidered with leaves and flowers of
gold, and with a collar of emeralds around his
neck, wearing on his head a glittering dia-
dem from which floated the gorgeous plumes of
some rare tropical bird, he appeared in the
midst of his people seated on a throne of solid
gold, and surrounded by all his great nobles,
whose magnificent appearance added still more
glory to his own. His litter was borne by cour-
tiers wearing coronets of gold and silver, and
near him sat the principal men of his kingdom,
whose litters were carried by soldiers dressed
in rich and showy uniforms. Behind the Inca
and his nobles came the soldiers, wearing hel-
mets of skin studded with jewels, and clothed
in white or blue tunics, the ofificers bearing
the royal standards of the country, which were
embroidered with gold and silver, and close be-
side the Inca walked a standard-bearer holding
the imperial banner, upon which was wrought

134 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

a rainbow, the symbol of royalty; and as the
great procession advanced into the square amid
waving of banners and nodding plumes and to
the sound of warlike music, the people all fell
on their knees and bowed their heads and paid
homage to the Inca, the child of the sun. And
then all was silent, for they awaited the coming
of the god whose day they celebrated, but as
soon as his first rays touched the snowy heights
of the lofty Cordilleras, a great shout of joy
went up from the multitude, who welcomed with
hymns of praise the coming of the mighty god.
Then the Inca would rise from his throne, and
raising high in the air a golden, jewelled goblet,
pour out a libation to the sun, after which the
procession wound slowly to the temple, where
sacrifices were offered of sheep and birds and
flowers, and sometimes, when there had been a
great victory in battle, even young maidens and
beautiful children were offered up, and then
after many other ceremonies the people left the
temples and passed the rest of the day in sing-
ing and eating and drinking, and all kinds of
merry-making. There were many other festival

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 1 35

days, but the Feast of the Sun was the great-
est, and was held in summer when the days
were longest and the god remained for many
hours above the horizon.

And it was these happy and contented Peru-
vians that Pizarro had determined to conquer,
and it was their beautiful country that he meant
to take possession of But much as he desired
to do this, it would have been impossible with-
out* the aid of two good friends, who helped
him with money and influence. One of these
friends was a bold cavalier by the name of Al-
magro ; the other was a very rich priest named
Luque ; and it was agreed between the three
that Almagro should get the ships ready and
enlist the men, that Luque should furnish the
money, and that Pizarro should command the
expedition and conquer Peru, and then divide
the riches of the conquered country equally be-
tween his two partners. By this arrangement
the hardest part of the work fell to Pizarro ;
but he did not mind that at all, and, in fact,
would have been dissatisfied had it been other-
wise, while, on the contrary, Almagro and

136 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU".

Luque were equally willing to remain in Pana-
ma ; and so everybody was satisfied, and the
preparations began at once.

Only the bravest and strongest men were
chosen, and when the little company assembled,
they only numbered one hundred and twelve ;
but this did not discourage Pizarro, for he was
determined to be discouraged at nothing, and on
the 17th of November, 1524, after an imposing
service in the cathedral, where Luque blessed
the commander and his soldiers, and bade them
God-speed, the little fleet sailed from Panama
and started southwest on its voyage of con-
quest.

But many misfortunes happened to Pizarro
before he saw the coast of Peru. The way
was new and strange, and he did not know
how far off Peru was, and he landed many
times along the coast in hope of finding a path
that would lead to the great empire, but found
instead only marshes and deserts and tangled
underbrush, where his men were bitten by
poisonous serpents, and where they suffered
from hunger and thirst and disease ; and years

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 1 3/

passed, and all that he knew of the coveted
land he heard from some Indians dwelllnor
along the coast, who wore heavy golden orna-
ments, and said that a great and rich country-
lay back from the sea, governed by a mighty
ruler. But this news only made Pizarro more
eager than ever to carry out his plan. Al-
magro had come from Panama with men and
provisions, or long before the whole party
would have died of hunger and disease, and
then Pizarro sent him back for more men, feel-
ing sure, from a visit that he had paid to an In-
dian village near the coast, that he was near
Peru ; but the Governor of Panama refused to
let Almagro return, and instead sent an order
for Pizarro and his party to come back, as he
would no longer allow them to risk money and
life in an undertaking that promised nothing
but failure. It was three years since Pizarro
had first sailed from Panama. Many of his
men had died, while the rest had suffered cruel-
ly from hunger and exposure, and when they
heard that the governor had ordered them to
return home they were very willing to do so,

138 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

and were glad enough to give up the idea of
conquering Peru. But Pizarro himself would
not give up. He was angry and indignant that
the governor should command him to give up
his plan at the very moment that success seemed
certain, and he said that he would stay in spite
of the governor's orders. Then he drew a line
in the sand and stepped across it, and said that
all the men who were willing to stay with him
and go on to Peru should step across the line,
too. At first no one moved ; the danger seemed
so great and the thought of home so pleasant ;
but at last, Luiz, the pilot, who had always
trusted in Pizarro's luck, stepped across the
line, and others followed until thirteen were
standing by Pizarro's side. They were few in
number, but their hearts were brave, and the
bold leader knew that their courage was equal
to his own.

Then the rest of the company returned home
to Panama, and Pizarro and his little band were
left alone on the Island of Gallo without even
a ship to take them on their journey. The island
was not fit to stay upon, as it offered neither

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 1 39

food, nor shelter from the frequent storms
that burst over it, and Pizarro thought the
better plan would be to leave it at once. So
he gave orders for the men to build a raft, and
in a few hours they had finished a large, strong
one, upon which they placed their arms and
stores, and then stepping cheerfully upon it
themselves, pushed away from the island out
into the sea. A few days' sailing in this way
brought them to another island, larger and
pleasanter than the Island of Gallo, and here Pi-
zarro decided to land and wait for the arrival of
the ships which he knew Almagro would send
to his aid. The Indians were friendly, and the
island was well watered with clear, running
streams. The men built huts of logfs and bark
beside one of these pleasant streams, and for a
time they were very comfortable. Wild cocoa-
nuts, pheasants, and rabbits were abundant,
and furnished strengthening food, and if the
pleasant weather had continued they would
have been quite content with their situation ;
but, after a few weeks, tempests began to blow
over the island, beating down their huts and

140 riZARKO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

drenching the men to the skin. And even when
it did not rain they suffered so much from the
intense heat of the sun and from the swarms of
mosquitoes and other poisonous insects, that
they were almost in despair, when, after seven
months of waiting, the ship that Almagro sent
appeared in sight. The vessel brought pro-
visions, but no soldiers, for those the governor
refused to send, and so, without waiting for
further help, Pizarro started with the ship and
eleven of his brave companions, and with a fear-
less heart turned southward ajjain.

In three weeks he reached the Gulf of Guay-
aquil which washes the shores of a lovely and
fertile country, and pointing across the waters,
the Indian interpreters that Pizarro had brought
from the North, told him that there lay a part
of the great empire of Peru, which he had so
long been seeking. Here he found, the next
morning, a large and prosperous town, very
different from any he had yet seen on the South
American coast. This town, the name of which
was Tumbez, was within the Inca's dominions,
and was therefore as fine and wealthy as many

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 14I

of those farther from the coast. Pizarro was
surprised to see such magnificent temples and
palaces, such fine houses and well-kept roads,
and, above all, such intelligent and fine-looking
people. They came fiocking down to the shore
to see the curious ship that the strangers had
come in, and the Spaniards noticed that they
wore garments of finely woven material, and
were adorned with rings, bracelets, and chains
of gold, and wore large and brilliant gems in
their ears. Pizarro made friends with the In-
dians by means of his interpreters, and sent a
message to the o-overnor of the town, askine
for provisions and for leave for one of his men
to visit the town.

Both of these wishes were granted ; the gov-
ernor sent immediately a large store of ban-
anas, pineapples, and other fruits, besides
meats and fish, with permission to Pizarro to
send one of his men to visit the town. The
governor also sent one of the chief men to wel-
come the strangers, and thus Pizarro saw for
the first time one of the nobles of the empire he
had come to conquer. He saw at once that

142 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

these people were very different from the sav-
ages of the West Indies, or Atlantic coast, and
that this courteous stranger, with his noble
bearing and rich dress, belonged to a far higher
race than the half-clothed Indians of Panama.
So he resolved to be as friendly as possible with
these people, and not let them imagine for a
moment that he had come on a hostile errand.
He received the nobleman very politely and in-
vited him to dinner, and on his departure, gave
him handsome presents. But the next morning,
when the Spaniard Molino went on shore,
Pizarro told him to notice carefully everything
about the town, its size and wealth and means
of defence, for he was more determined than
ever to be called the Conqueror of Peru.

Molino was accompanied by a negro servant
who carried some presents for the governor,
and as the Indians had never seen a negro be-
fore, they looked at him very curiously, and tried
to rub the black off with their fingers. And
they also looked very curiously at the white
man, for he was as strange to them as the ne-
gro ; and they thought that the people from be-

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 143

yond the sea, Ayith their white skin and fair hair,
must belonof to a fjreat and wonderful race.
MoHno was well received by the governor,
whom he found living' in a fine mansion, guarded
by soldiers in handsome uniforms, and attended
by servants in livery, who served his meals
upon golden dishes. Everywhere the Spaniard
saw riches and prosperity, and his account of
the splendid temples and palaces made Pizarro's
heart beat high with hope. The next day he
sent another Spaniard, Candia, to visit the town,
and his report was as satisfactory as that of
Molino. Pizarro was satisfied that he had
reached the empire of Peru at last, and taking a
friendly farewell of the inhabitants of Lumbez,
sailed alonsf down the coast to see still more of
this marvellous country. Everywhere he landed
he was delighted to find the country as rich and
prosperous as at Tumbez, and at length turned
his vessel homeward, well supplied with pro-
visions for the voyage, and with a large quan-
tity of gold and jewels, which he intended to
show his friends in Panama in proof that he had
really discovered the land of his dreams. Stop-

144 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

ping at Tumbez again, he left Molino, and one
or two more of his men there, and taking
two of the inhabitants with him, sailed away,
carrying the good wishes of the people with
him, and with high hope of a speedy return.

But on his arrival at Panama he found the
governor still unwilling to let another fleet be
fitted out for the conquest of Peru, and Alma-
gro, and Luque, and Pizarro, after talking it
over, decided that the best thing to do would
be to get permission of the king himself, and
then the governor could not hinder them. So
Pizarro sailed off to Spain, which he reached
safely after a quick voyage, and as his name
was now well known in Spain, the emperor sent
for him to come to court, so that he might hear
his adventures.

Spain was at that time the greatest country
in the world; the emperor, Charles V., son of
Ferdinand and Isabella, ruled over Spain, Ger-
many, and the Netherlands ; a Spanish adven-
turer had discovered the Pacific Ocean and
added its shores and islands to the possessions
of the mother country ; Cortez had conquered

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 145

Mexico and made it a Spanish province, and
everywhere the Spanish name was renowned
for wealth and power ; and Pizarro, when he
arrived at the court of Charles V., knew well
that he would meet there some of the most
famous soldiers and adventurers in the world,
and he felt very proud of the honor done him,
and rejoiced to think that in the future his own
name would shine as brightly as those of the
famous men he was about to meet. The em-
peror received him kindly and listened atten-
tively while he told of his visit to Peru and
described its wealthy cities and intelligent in-
habitants ; and when he added that the principal
cities, which he had not seen, were even richer
and finer than those near the coast, the emperor
readily gave his consent to his returning there
with ships and men and everything necessary
for the conquest of such a great empire. And
then Pizarro showed the king and his nobles
the chests of gold, and caskets of precious
stones, and beautifully dyed and woven cloths,
and the llamas and Indians he had brought with
him, and they all exclaimed in wonder at the

146 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

^ -i

sight, and Cortez said that just such' riches had
he found in Mexico, and doubted not that this
new land was as wealthy as the country of Mon-
tezuma. And so no time was lost in fitting out
a fleet, and while this was being done Pizarro
took the time to ^o to Truxillo and see his old
home again. He found all the country people
ready to welcome him and do him honor, for he

ft

was known throughout Spain as a bold soldier
and adventurer, and he entered his old village
with very different feelings from those he had
when he ran away, barefoot and ragged, some
thirty years before. The old castle was still there,
and little peasant boys still watched the pigs out
in the fields ; but with him all was different.

His father and mother were dead, and his
four younger brothers were very desirous of
going to America with him and seeking their
fortunes in that wonderful country; and as he
consented to this they all went with him to
Seville, where the fleet was being fitted out,
and when the ships started across the Atlantic
the bold commander knew that he had four
men, at least, that he could trust to the end, and

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 14/

who would never desert him, no matter how
hard his fortune might be.

Panama .was reached without any mishap,
and then all was bustle and confusion until ships
and men were ready for the start. Three ves-
sels were bought, and with about one hundred
and eighty soldiers, some thirty horses, and a
good supply of arms and ammunition, the little
fleet was at last ready, and after a solemn reli-
gious service in the cathedral the company em-
barked, and Pizarro found himself at last on his
way to conquer Peru.

It was in the winter of 1531, seven years
since the time of his first voyage to the South ;
then he was ignorant of the country and its
dangers, but now he knew the coast, years of
experience had taught him how to overcome
its dangers, and above all, he had friends in
the inhabitants of Tumbez, who would welcome
him gladly, and who were ready to believe that
he was as great and powerful as he wished
them to think. It did not trouble him at all
that he meant to repay their kindness and trust
with treachery and murder.

148 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

In two weeks they came to a pleasant land-
ing-place some distance north of Tumbez, and
after sending the ships back to Panama they
began marching southward. The way was
often difficult, and they had to cross rivers and
pass through swamps and thickets, but Pizarro
always led them on, cheering his men and hop-
ing for better things. On their way they passed
an Indian village, which they captured without
resistance from the natives, who fled in dismay
from the sight and sound of the guns ; here
they found a great- many large emeralds, as
well as much gold and silver, and a good store
of corn and other food, and after plundering
the village they went on with light hearts,
cheered with the prospect of still greater wealth
and good fortune in the near future. The char-
acter of the country now changed and they
found themselves passing through beautiful
groves, and over roads bordered with trees
bearing delicious fruits ; and so they went pleas-
antly along until they reached the gulf of
Quayaquil and saw once more the domes and
towers of Tumbez. But now Pizarro did not

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 1 49

come as a friend, but as a foe, and his only-
thought was to take possession of Tumbez and
rob it of its wealth. There was a tribe of In-
dians living on the island of Puna, just opposite
Tumbez, who were bitter enemies of the peo-
ple of that city, and as soon as these Indians
saw the arrival of the Spaniards on the other side
of the bay, they seiit a party over to ask Pizarro
and his followers to come over to the island and
stay with them. Pizarro knew that these people
were unfriendly to those of Tumbez, and he
thought it would be'a good plan to make friends
of them, so they would help him when he
attacked the city ; so he accepted the chief's
offer, and in a little while the Indians had built
some large rafts upon which the whole party-
was taken over to the island of Puna, whose
chief stood on the shore to welcome them.
Here they were given pleasant quarters and en-
tertained with choice fruits and vegfetables, and
very glad indeed were they to have this chance
of resting after their long and weary march.

But one day one of the Indian interpreters
that Pizarro had brought with him came to

I50 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

him and said that the natives of the island were
planning- to attack him. This at once raised
Pizarro's anger, and as several men that he
sent around to spy upon the Indians came back
and said that the story was true, he immediately
ordered his men to fall upon the natives, and in
a short time every village on the island was
plundered by the Spaniards, and great numbers
of the inhabitants slain. And then Pizarro de-
cided to go at once to Tumbez ; so he sent the
rafts ahead loaded with booty, and getting as
many boats as he could, embarked for the main-
land.

But during all these days of fighting the
people of Tumbez had made up their minds
that the Spaniards had come back as foes in-
stead of friends, and as soon as the rafts came
to shore they seized the plunder and dragged
the men to the woods and murdered them ; then,
in great alarm lest they should suffer worse
things at the hands of the Spaniards than the
natives of Puna had, they gathered together all
the valuables they could carry and fled to the
woods, and when Pizarro came to Tumbez he

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 151

found its streets deserted, its treasures carried
off, and many of its handsome buildings utterly-
destroyed. And so he was able to take posses-
sion of the city without losing a single man in
battle, and when after a few days his scouts
came in bringing the runaway chief with them,
Pizarro decided to pardon the chief for killing
the Spaniards who had been on the rafts, and
to let him collect his people again and live
peaceably in his city as before.

He did this because he intended to go at
once to the capital of Peru, and he thought in
case any disaster happened to his army it would
be well to have the chief of Tumbez friendly to
him. The chief was very glad to gather his
people together again, and promised eternal
friendship to Pizarro ; and so one bright day
the Spanish army marched out of Tumbez and
took its way toward Cuzco.

Before leaving the coast, Pizarro had been
joined by Hernando de Soto, the same bold
cavalier who afterward spent so many weary
years in trying to find on the shores of the Mis-
sissippi an empire as rich as Mexico or Peru,

152 riZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

and as he had brought with him soldiers and
horses, he promised to be of great use to Piz-
arro. Their way now led through pleasant
valleys and thriving villages, and everywhere
Pizarro found himself warmly greeted by the
natives ; often in the larger towns the governors
entertained him with splendid banquets, and
many times he lodged in the very palaces that
were prepared for the Inca's visits. Pizarro
made friends with all the Indians they met, as
he thought it best to leave no enemy between
him and the coast, and so they marched com-
fortably day after day, until they had nearly
reached the lofty ranges of the Cordilleras.
While stopping at one of the largest towns that
they had yet seen, Pizarro heard that, some
distance ahead, a large Peruvian army was col-
lected. Fearing that he might be attacked if he
went further, he sent De Soto on ahead to find
out if the Inca meant to receive him as a friend.
After many days De Soto returned to the camp
accompanied by a Peruvian noble, a brother of
the Inca, who came with a greeting from the
emperor and some presents of fruits, corn, em-

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 1 53

eralds, and vases of gold and silver. The noble
bearing of the messenger and his splendid cos-
tume and heavy ornaments of gold made a deep
impression upon the mind of Pizarro, and he
saw at once that in all his dealing with the Inca
he would have to treat him with the respect
due to his great rank and power ; so he received
the messenger very courteously, and expressed
great pleasure at seeing a brother of the great
Inca. The messenger said that the Inca had
sent him to Pizarro to say that he welcomed
the Spaniards to his land and invited them to
visit him at his camp. Pizarro replied that he
would surely visit the Inca, and after receiving
a present of a red cap and some glass beads,
the nobleman went away. But Pizarro felt
sure that the Inca had only sent him to find out
how large the Spanish army was, and he list-
ened a little nervously to De Soto's account of
the cities he had seen, all well fortified, and
able to hold out a long time against a besieging
army. And then De Soto told of the riches
and greatness of Cuzco, the capital, and said
that an Indian noble had described to him its

154 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

magnificent palaces and temples, whose walls
were covered with gold and silver and precious
stones; and at this Pizarro determined there
was no time to be lost, and set out immediately
for Caxamalca, where the Inca held his camp.

Caxamalca was built near a beautiful river
that flowed through the valley below, and its
great stone fortresses and lofty temples, its pal-
aces and towers, its beautiful gardens and wide,
well-paved streets, and its large public square
with its fountains and flowers, all showed Pizarro,
on his arrival there, that he had come into a
land whose people knew well how to be com-
fortable in peace as well as to defend themselves
in war. He at once marched his soldiers into
the great square, where he pitched his tents as
if resolved to stay. The Inca's army lay upon
the slopes of the mountains three miles from
Caxamalca, and there was great excitement and
wonder among the troops, as Indians from the
town came into camp describing the appearance
of the Spanish soldiers. The Peruvians had
indeed looked with surprise and awe upon these
invaders, whose white faces and long, brown

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 1 55

hair, and glittering armor, were so different
from anything they had ever seen before. And
the greatest wonder of all was the fact that
many of these strangers rode upon curious ani-
mals that were eager to rush into battle, and
that the riders guided often with a word or
motion, showing that the creatures understood
human speech. These were the horses that
Pizarro had brought, and they were well calcu-
lated to inspire the Peruvians with terror, for as
the cavalry charged fiercely in battle, the inno-
cent natives thought that the horse and man all
formed one animal ; and once, when a man fell
from his horse, the Indians ran screaming away,
saying that the strange animal had broken all
to pieces. Even when they had grown more
accustomed to seeinof them their fear did not
lessen, for the intelligence of the horse and his
power to understand his master's speech always
seemed like something half-human to the Pe-
ruvians, who had never seen horses before.
The arms of the Spaniards seemed very terrible
too ; the flash and smoke and noise of the guns
seemed to them like something supernatural,

156 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

like the lightning or thunder, and frightened
them so that at the first sound they were ready-
to throw down their weapons and fly.

Pizarro knew all this very well, and the next
morning after his arrival at Caxamalca, when
he sent to the Inca's camp to ask if the Span-
iards were welcome to Peru, the men he chose
were De Soto, and his brother Hernando, and
they both rode on powerful milk-white horses,
and had with them an escort of forty horsemen,
all clad in glittering armor and with brilliant
trappings on their steeds. The party rode rap-
idly along, and as they came to the river that
separated them from the Inca's camp, dashed
boldly into the stream and came swiftly up to
the line of Peruvian warriors that stood waiting
to receive them and conduct them to the pres-
ence of the emperor. They found the monarch
seated on a golden throne, surrounded by richly
attired nobles, and attended by the most beau-
tiful women in the court. All the courtiers and
attendants stood with bowed heads, for no one
might raise his eyes in the presence of the Inca.

The Spaniards stood for some moments in

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 15/

silence, and then Hernando Pizarro told the
Inca, through an interpreter, that he and his
countrymen were the subjects of a mighty mon-
arch across the sea, who had sent them to ask
the Inca to be his friend. The Inca did not re-
ply to this speech in person, but one of his no-
bles came forward and said that the emperor
bade them welcome, and the next day would
visit the Spanish chief at Caxamalca. The
Spaniards had to- be content with this, as it soon
became evident that the Peruvians had no in-
tention of saying any more. De Soto now
thouorht he would show the Inca some of the

o

good qualities of his horse, for he well knew
that the splendid animal had attracted his atten-
tion, so he wheeled his horse round and round
and put him through many difficult exercises,
the horse responding intelligently to all his
commands, and finally brought him down close
to the Inca's throne. The Peruvians were much
impressed by these exercises, as was likewise
the Inca, but no one showed it by word or man-
ner ; when De Soto had finished, the party of
Spaniards were invited to a banquet, where

158 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

they were served by beautiful women, who
brought them fruits on golden dishes and drink
in golden goblets studded with emeralds.

And then they went back to Caxamalca to
report the result of their visit, and when the
soldiers heard of the thousands and thousands
of Peruvians who lay camping out on the moun-
tain slopes, ready to defend the Inca and their
country with their lives, and when they remem-
bered that all over the great empire were other
thousands willing to take the places of those
who should fall, then, indeed, the conquest of
Peru began to look like a very serious matter,
and many a Spanish soldier wished himself back
in Panama.

The next day the camp was astir at an early
hour with preparations for the Inca's visit, for
Pizarro had formed a very bold plan in the
night, and all his soldiers knew it, and had
pledged themselves to help him carry it out.
He knew that there would be very little use in
fighting pitched battles with the Peruvians, as
there were thousands of them to every soldier
he had, so he decided to overcome the enemy

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU, 1 59

hy the same trick that Cortez had used in con-
quering Mexico.

The Peruvians, like the Mexicans, held the
person of their emperor sacred, and Pizarro
knew that if he could get possession of the Inca,
the Indians would be afraid of attackinof him for
fear of injuring their monarch. He would be
safe as long as he held the Inca captive, for the
Peruvians would understand that any harm
done to him would be visited upon the Inca.

There was another reason, too, why this
seemed a good plan. The Inca had a brother
who was left part of the kingdom by his father's
will, but Atahualpa, the present Inca, had de-
throned his brother, Huascar, and now un-
lawfully held his dominions, and Pizarro knew
that the imprisonment of Atahualpa would be
the means of making Huascar his friend, and
as Huascar was really the lawful king of a large
part of Peru, and had many faithful and loving
subjects among its people, it would be a good
thing for the Spaniards to be able to count him
among their friends.

It was on Saturday, November i6, 1532,

l6o PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

that this bold deed was to be done. Pizarro
concealed his soldiers in different places and
kept only his officers around him, in order to
deceive Atahualpa the better, and when all was
ready, and the watchword, " Santiago," was
agreed upon as a signal, he waited impatiently
for the appearance of the Inca. It almost
seemed as if something warned the emperor to
keep away from Caxamalca, for he kept putting
off his visit from hour to hour, and even at one
time sent word that he would not come till the
next day ; but Pizarro replied that he would not
take his supper until his visitor came, and
whether from fear of offending the Spaniards,
or because he thought there was no use in
putting off the visit, Atahualpa finally gave the
order for the camp to move, and was soon on
his way to the town.

He sat upon his golden throne, with his jew-
elled diadem upon his head, and with the royal
standard, the rainbow-hued banner, carried be-
fore him. His litter was borne by the great
nobles, all richly dressed, and before the throne,
and for a long distance behind, marched com-

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. l6l

pany after company of Peruvian soldiers. As
they entered the great square of Caxamalca a
Spanish monk came forward and saluted the
emperor with great respect.

Atahuala looked upon the fair faces and
glittering armor of the Spanish soldiers, and
then upon the white robes of the priest and the
gilded cross he held in his hand, and turning
to his attendants, said impressively: "These
strangers are the messengers of the gods ; be
careful of offending them."

The priest now made a long speech, in which
he told the Inca that the Pope, as head of the
Christian church, had given the empire of Peru
to the king of Spain, and that it was the will
of God that the Peruvians should all become
Christians and cease to worship the Sun.

The Inca listened to this speech very pa-
tiently and asked the interpreter where the
priest had learned all that strange news. The
priest answered that he had learned it all from
the Bible he held in his hand. Atahualpa then
took the Bible, and, after looking at it curiously,
held it up to his ear as if expecting to learn its

l62 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

secrets in that manner ; but as he heard nothing,
he threw it angrily from him and exclaimed
haughtily, " I am very willing to be a friend of
the king of Spain, but not his vassal ; the Pope
must be a very extraordinary man to give away
a country that does not belong to him. I shall
not change my religion, and if the Christians
adore a God who died upon a cross, I worship
the Sun, who never dies."

At these defiant words the priest turned
angrily to Pizarro and made a sign. And then
shouting " Santiago," the terrible war-cry of
the Spaniards that had so often urged them on
to victory, Pizarro seized the Inca and called
upon his soldiers to come forth from their hid-
ing-places. In a moment the place was alive
with the excited Spaniards, guns were fired,
and the terrified Peruvians, startled at this
unexpected attack, were trampled under the
horses' hoofs and blinded by the smoke, and
although the Inca's guard tried in vain to pro-
tect him, they were all killed or wounded, and
of the remaining Peruvians — men, women, and
children — very few who had entered the square

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 163

left it alive, but nearly all were murdered by the
relentless Spaniards. Then the gates were
closed and guarded, and the Inca was taken to
Pizarro's tent, where his robe and jewels were
taken from him, and after being clothed in a
plainer dress he was invited to take supper with
Pizarro.

Then the conqueror told his prisoner his
true reason for coming to Peru, and Atahualpa
heard it all with bowed head and sad face, and
remembered, as he listened, the old legend of
his race — how from across the seas fair-haired
men were to come, bringing sorrow and destruc-
tion to the children of the Sun. The old
prophecy had come true, and the last Inca of
Peru was a prisoner in the hands of a strange
man, with white skin and long brown hair.
Pizarro slept well after his easy victory, happy
in the thought that that day's work had made
his name immortal, for never before in the his-
tory of the world had there been such a brill-
iant conquest as this. Even the name of Cor-
tez would now stand second to his own.

The next morning Pizarro saw that the re-

1 64 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

mainder of the Inca's army were making hasty
preparations for departure, and in a short time
scarcely a sign remained of the vast host that
had been scattered over the slopes of the
mountains. As Pizarro's object was simply to
get all the treasures he could, he did not take
any prisoners, but let the disheartened Peru-
vians go whither they would, and devoted him-
self to obtaining all the gold and jewels that
could be found in Caxamalca or on the bodies
of the slaughtered Indians. The Inca at once
noticed the Spaniards' love of gold, and told
Pizarro if he would give him his freedom he
would give him a large room full of silver, and
gold enough to fill half a room. Pizarro's eyes
glistened at this proposal, which he at once ac-
cepted, and the Inca hastily sent some of his
servants to Cuzco to order the people to bring
the gold and silver from the temples and pal-
aces. Day after day messengers arrived bring-
ing the precious metals — vases, basins, goblets,
table-service and temple-service, all of purest
gold, besides golden fountains, birds, fruits, and
vegetables, all carved out of the metal in the

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. l6$

curious way known to the Indians. Two thou-
sand men were employed in bringing this treas-
ure, and every day Atahualpa's heart grew
liofhter, for he thouo-ht each niofht brouo;-ht him
nearer freedom.

But one day messengers came to the city
from the Inca's brother Huascar, saying that if
Pizarro would set him free from the prison
where Atahualpa had confined him, he would
give the conqueror twice as much gold as the
Inca had promised him. Somehow this news
reached Atahualpa, and in great fear lest Pizarro
should accept his brother's offer, he sent In-
dians to kill him as he was on his way to Caxa-
malca. This roused Pizarro's anger, for he had
meant to get the gold from both brothers, and
then decide to give the kingdom to the one who
would be likely to trouble him the least. So
when the news of Huascar's death came to him,
and he knew he would not get the gold that
he had been promised, he determined that the
Inca should suffer for his loss. At the same
time he heard that the Peruvians were gather-
ing an army under one of their most skilful

l66 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

generals, and intended attacking the Spaniards
and rescuing the Inca. No time was to be lost,
Pizarro called a council of his chief men, and it
was decided that the Inca must be put to death
and the army march at once to Cuzco. Atahu-
alpa could not believe the terrible news when it
was brought to him ; in vain he pointed to the
glittering piles of gold that his faithful subjects
had brought for his ransom ; in vain he re-
minded Pizarro of his promise. The conqueror
of Peru thought nothing of his honor, but only
of the gold that he might find in the Inca's
stately palaces, and Atahualpa learned to his
cost what it meant to trust in a Spanish soldier's
plighted word ; for, although all the officers de-
clared that the Inca must die, it was Pizarro
himself who acted as one of the judges at the
trial, and it was his voice that condemned him
to death.

He was sentenced to be burned to death,
and at night after the trial was over he was
led out to the centre of the square and bound to
the stake. The Spanish soldiers stood, round
with torches in hands, watching intently the

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 167

face of the doomed monarch, whose bearino- was
as proud and dignified as it had been when he
first came to the Spanish camp surrounded by-
thousands of his faithful subjects.

After the fagots had been piled up around
him, the same priest who had first urged him to
become a Christian, came to him and said that
if he would be baptized he might be strangled
instead of burned. As this would be a much
easier death, Atahualpa consented, and the
priest baptized him.

And then they killed him as he stood there
alone, with his hands clasped, and his eyes
lifted toward the heavens from which the great
god had vanished many hours before, and so
perished Atahualpa, the last of the children of
the Sun, and the empire of the Incas was at an
end.

Pizarro now determined to march at once to
Cuzco, and in order to appease the Peruvians,
who were horrified and angry at the murder of
Atahualpa, a younger brother of the emperor
was crowned Inca, although Pizarro meant to
keep the real power in his own hands. But it

l68 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

would be safer for the Spaniards to march
through the country if they had the person of
an Inca in their power, and the young Toparca
had a mild and gentle nature, and Pizarro could
easily rule him.

De Soto was sent ahead to spy out danger,
and although his party, as well as his main
army, was attacked once or twice by Peruvians,
the Spaniards had only to charge upon them
with their fiery horses, when the Indians would
break ranks at once and fly in terror to the
woods, and so with but little adventure Cuzco
was reached at last, and Pizarro found himself
in the capital of the great empire he had con-
quered.

Toparca having died on the way to Cuzco,
another brother, Manco, was crowned Inca, with
great ceremony, in the midst of thousands of
assembled Peruvians, and a treaty of peace was
entered into between Manco and Pizarro, and
eternal friendship was sworn between them ; but
although this satisfied the Peruvians, Manco
was really kept under guard and was closely
watched all the time. And now began the

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 169

plunder of Cuzco, and its beautiful temples and
royal palaces were soon despoiled of all their
treasures ; it was found when the gold and
jewels had been divided that each soldier in the
Spanish army was a rich man, and that the
king's portion was immense.

But Cuzco was too far from the sea-coast to
be a suitable capital for the new kingdom that
Pizarro meant to found, and after its stores of
gold and silver had been divided among the
soldiers, the conqueror proposed to move the
capital from Cuzco to some place nearer the
coast, and as there was no large town near the
sea that suited him, he gave orders that a new
city should be built, with palaces, temples, and
churches, and all things as fine and beautiful as
could be found anywhere else in Peru. The
workmen were soon at work, and thousands of
Peruvians were daily employed in building the
bridges and walls and towers that were to grace
this new capital, whose foundations were laid in
January, 1535, and which Pizarro named " The
City of the Kings," and which is now known as
Lima.

8

I70 PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

But it was only a few years that Pizarro lived
to enjoy all his glory and prosperity, for he had
many bitter enemies among- the Spaniards. His
old friend Almagro had been very dissatisfied
at his share of the treasures that had been found
in Peru, and had even tried to take Cuzco away
from Pizarro, and become ruler of Peru himself.
There is no doubt that Pizarro was unfaithful
to his promise to divide the spoils equally with
Almagro and Luque ; but Luque was dead, and
Almagro was obliged to take whatever Pizarro
would give him, and when he attempted to ob-
tain more by force, he was taken prisoner by
Hernando Pizarro and put to death. But he
left a son, Diego, who resolved to revenge his
father's murder. He had many friends in the
city, for his father had been very popular among
the forces that he led against Pizarro, and a plan
was laid to attack Pizarro as he was returning
from church on Sunday and kill him. But on
the Sunday appointed, Pizarro did not go to
church ; he had heard of the plot and remained
at home. Diego and his friends were not to be
baffled, however; they went at once to Pizarro's

PIZARRO AND THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 171

palace, and forcing their way to his private
room, attacked him before his friends could
come to his rescue. Pizarro fought bravely for
his life, but the odds were against him, and in
a few moments he fell dead at the feet of the
man whose father had been his old friend, and
whose help and trust had been the chief means
of his conquering the empire of Peru.

CHAPTER XIII.

FERDINAND DE SOTO, THE DISCOVERER OF THE
MISSISSIPPI.

Ferdinand de Soto, who was with Pizarro
in Peru, was born in Spain, and the first years of
his Hfe were spent in a gloomy castle where it
was so quiet, that he often grew lonely and
wished that he had some playfellow besides the
birds or his dog or horse. His parents were so
poor that they could not afford to send him to
school, and so he grew to be a big boy before
knowing how to read or write ; but his family
were of noble blood, the noblest in Spain ; and
although they could not send him to school, still
they had him taught to ride and fence, as it was
thought disgraceful for a Spanish nobleman not
to have these accomplishments. And so the
boy learned to ride daringly, and at the age of
twelve could use his sword as easily as any
other Spanish boy of his age ; and in the

FERDINAND DE SOTO. 1/3

meantime, in the halls of the dark old castle,
he listened eagerly to the tales he heard of the
wonderful land which Columbus had discovered,
and he resolved that when he became a man he
would o-o himself across the sea and brino- back

o o

gold and refurnish up the old castle and make
it once more a place fit for noblemen to live in.
When he learned to read he stored his mind
with stories of adventure and romance, and he
said that he, too, would go into the world some
day and win honor and fame ; and so the days
passed ; the sun brightened the castle walls in
the daytime and the shadows hung over them
at night, and through sunlight and shadow the
boy dreamed on of the years to come when he
would be a knight and a soldier and gain glory
and wealth under the flag of Spain.

One day a very wealthy Spanish nobleman
named Don Pedro de Avila rode up to the
castle and asked to see Ferdinand. Ferdi-
nand at this time was an unusually handsome
youth, tall and graceful, and remarkable for
his strength and agility. He excelled all his
friends in fencing and riding, and all those

174 FERDINAND DE SOTO.

active amusements which the Spanish youth
delighted in.

Don Pedro had noticed the handsome boy,
and as he had no son of his own he offered to
adopt him and educate him ; so Ferdinand left
his home and was sent to a Spanish university,
where he spent six years, during which time he
became renowned for his skill in the chivalric
entertainments which were all the time going
on in Spain. He took the prizes at all the tour-
naments, and was everywhere praised and ad-
mired. Don Pedro became very proud of him
and treated him as though he were his own
child.

Don Pedro had a daughter, Isabella; who
was very beautiful, and her father wished her
to marry some rich nobleman, so that she might
have a high position at the Spanish court ; but
while her father was away in Darien, where he
had been appointed governor, Isabella fell in
love with Ferdinand de Soto and promised to
marry him. When Don Pedro came back and
De Soto asked permission of him to marry his
daughter he was very angry, and from that time

FERDINAND DE SOTO. 175

he became De Soto's bitterest enemy. He
was going back to Darien again, and thinking
it would be a fine thing if De Soto were to
go with him and get killed by the Indians, he
offered to give him a handsome outfit and ap-
point him captain of a company of soldiers if he
would go. De Soto was very poor, his parents
were dead, and he thought he might win honor
and wealth by going with Don Pedro, so he
accepted his offer.

At the time that he left Spain, De Soto was
nineteen years of age ; he was away fifteen
years, during which time he heard only once
or twice from Isabella ; he wrote to her many
times and she answered his letters, but her
father always destroyed the letters. During
the years that he was away De Soto did in-
deed become rich and famous ; he had left
Spain a poor boy, and he returned a wealthy
and honored man. Without his help Pizarro
would never have been able to conquer Peru,
and the fame of the crreat soldier De Soto was

o *

talked of from one end of Spain to the other.
In the meantime Don Pedro had died, and

176 FERDINAND DE SOTO.

as soon as De Soto reached Spain he married
Isabella. For two years they lived in Seville
in princely style, but at the end of that time De
Soto found that his money was fast melting
away, so he resolved to go on another expedi-
tion and gather more gold.. He asked permis-
sion of the king to conquer Florida, where it
was believed there was much gold, and offered
to fit out the expedition at his own expense.
The king consented, and De Soto began his
preparations.

As soon as it became known that De Soto
was raising an army for the conquest of Flor-
ida, all the young noblemen of Spain flocked
eagerly around his standard. He accepted only
those who were strong and able to endure hard-
ship, for he knew that he had a very difficult
task before him. Such an army had never be-
fore left Spain ; the gallant and daring soldiers
were nearly all wealthy and well-born. They
wore costly armor and all their outfit was of
the richest description. Everything was pro-
vided to make the expedition a success. Arms
and provisions, chains for the Indians whom

FERDINAND DE SOTO. 1/7

they expected to make slaves, bloodhounds for
hunting runaways, and cards for the young
nobles to amuse themselves with. Twelve
priests went with them to convert the natives
and keep up religious services. Ten ships left
the harbor of San Lucar, with flags flying, bu-
gles pealing, and cannon thundering over the
water, and thus De Soto, under sunny skies
and with bright hopes, sailed for the summer-
land of De Leon.

They stopped at Cuba, where De Soto left
his wife to govern the colony during his ab-
sence, and then sailing through the Gulf they
entered Tampa Bay and landed. Here they
heard that there was a large Indian town six
miles away, and De Soto decided to march
there ; but when they reached the village they
found it entirely deserted. Not an Indian was
to be seen. It was quite a large village ; the
houses were made of timber, thatched with
palm leaves; many of them were large, having
many rooms ; they had useful articles of furni-
ture, some of which were very elegantly carved
and ornamented with gold. The dresses of the

178 FERDINAND DE SOTO.

women were very beautiful and trimmed with
shells and embroidery and richly colored ; there
were exquisite shawls and mantillas woven by
hand from the bark of the mulberry tree, and
the walls of some of the houses were hung with
tapestry of prepared buckskin, while the floors
were covered with carpets of the same material.
The buckskin had been tanned so that it shone
like satin, and was as soft as silk, and it made
the rooms look very luxurious and elegant.

All this was very different from the Indian
homes De Soto had seen in Darien, and he did
not doubt that here he should find a kingdom
as rich as Peru. He took possession of the
village, and he and his soldiers lived in the
houses. One or two of the Indians came back
and were taken captive, and from them De Soto
learned that Ucita, the Indian chief, was a mor-
tal foe to all Spaniards because he had been so
badly treated by Narvaez, a cruel Spaniard
who had been there before De Soto's arrival.
Narvaez had treated Ucita most wickedly. He
had caused his mother to be torn to pieces by
bloodhounds ; like Don Pedro in Darien, he

FERDINAND DE SOTO. 1/9

had hunted down women and girls with his
bloodhounds, and had cut infants in pieces and
thrown them to the dogs, and once, in a fit of
anger, he had caused Ucita's nose to be cut off.
Ucita remembered all these things, and when
De Soto sent to him and offered his friendship,
the Indian chief replied :

" I want none of the speeches and promises
of the Spaniards. Bring me their heads, and I
will receive them joyfully."

Thus De Soto had to suffer for the crimes
of Don Pedro and Narvaez. While he had been
in Darien he had always treated the Indians
kindly, but he knew how cruelly other Span-
iards had acted toward them, so he expected a
great deal of trouble here. The Indians thought
all Spaniards were alike, and it was a long time
before he could make Ucita believe that he
meant him no harm. He sent him presents
again and again, and whenever an Indian was
taken captive by his soldiers De Soto treated
him kindly and sent him back to the tribe with
presents. At last Ucita seemed to be touched
by the kindness of De Soto, who then felt he

l8o FERDINAND DE SOTO.

could continue his march without leaving a
powerful enemy behind. Ucita did not say he
would be his friend, but then he showed a more
friendly spirit, and the Spaniards felt he would
not attack them. Ucita was a brave and noble
man, generous to his friends and merciful to his
enemies ; but the Spaniards had treated him so
inhumanly that it is no wonder he did not at
first believe in De Soto's offers of friendship.

In the meantime a Spaniard had been
brought into camp who had been taken prisoner
by the Indians when Narvaez was in Florida.
This man's name was Juan Ortiz, and he had
been with the Indians ten years, so he knew their
language and habits. When he was first taken
prisoner he had been very cruelly treated and
at last was bound to the stake to be burned ; as
the flames crept around him he cried aloud with
pain and terror, and the chiefs daughter, a very
beautiful princess about sixteen years of age,
could not endure the sight of his agony ; she
threw her arms around her father's neck and
begged with tears that Ortiz might be saved.
Ortiz was about eighteen years of age, tall, and

FERDINAND DE SOTO. l8l

very handsome, and the sight of his great beauty
and the pleadings of the princess Ulelah at last
touched her father's heart. Ortiz was spared,
but for some time after his life was misera-
ble, as the Indians treated him very cruelly ;
but at last his lot became easier, and at this
time he was treated as a friend by the tribe.
Of course De Soto was very glad to meet
Ortiz, as he would be very useful in dealing with
the natives.

Ortiz told De Soto of a very powerful chief
who lived about a hundred miles from Ucita,
and offered to lead him there ; the Spaniards
thought there might be gold there, and they
joyfully set off under the command of Gallegos,
De Soto remaining behind. The Indians they
met told them of a place where there was so
much gold that the warriors had shields and
helmets made of it ; but very few of the Span-
iards believed this ; they thought it was a trick
of the Indians to get them away from the coun-
try. In a few days De Soto followed Gallegos
with the rest of the army, and they began to
work their way through dense forests and

1 82 ■ FERDINAND DE SOTO.

swamps, and thickets, and through mud and
water, losing their way and harassed by the
Indians, in this mad hunt for gold.

One day, while they were travelling along
the banks of a river, they saw a canoe with six
Indians in it coming toward them ; the Indians
landed and three of them came up to De Soto,
and, bowing very low, said to him : " Do you
come for peace or for war ? "

" I come for peace," replied De Soto, " and
seek only a peaceful passage through your land.
I need food for my people and canoes and rafts
to cross the river, and I beg you to help me."

The Indians said that they themselves were
in want of food, as there had been a terrible
sickness the year before, and that many of their
tribe had died and others had gone away for
fear of the pestilence, thus leaving the fields un-
cultivated. They also said that their chieftain
was a young princess and they had no doubt
she would receive them kindly and do every-
thing for them. Having said this, the chiefs re-
turned to the other side of the river.

And now the Spaniards, looking across the

FERDINAND DE SOTO. 1 83

river, saw that there was a great stir in the vil-
lage opposite. First, a very large and beauti-
fully-decorated canoe appeared upon the banks,
followed by several other canoes also very beau-
tiful ; then a gorgeous palanquin, borne by four
men, was seen coming toward the river ; the
palanquin stopped at the banks, and from it a
graceful girl, very finely dressed, entered the
state canoe. She sat down upon the cushions
in the end of the canoe, over which was
stretched a canopy ; she was followed by eight
female attendants who entered the canoe after
she had sat down. Then the six men who had
just been to see De Soto entered a large canoe
which was rowed by a number of other Indians.
The canoe in which the princess sat was fast-
ened to this one, and then they started, fol-
lowed by several other canoes in which were
the most noted warriors of the tribe.

The Spaniards were charmed with the beau-
tiful young princess. Her attendants brought
with them a chair of state upon which she took
her seat after bowing to De Soto, and then
they began a conversation by means of the in-

1 84 FERDINAND DE SOTO.

terpreter, Juan Ortiz. The princess said that
it was true the pestilence had left the tribe
very poor, but that she would do everything
she could to provide them with food ; she
offered half of her house to De Soto, and half
the houses in the village to the soldiers, and
said that by the next day there would be rafts
and canoes ready to take the Spaniards across
the river.

De Soto was much touched by the kindness
of the princess and promised to be her friend
forever. Then the princess rose and placed a
large string of costly pearls around De Soto's
neck, and he in return presented her with a
gold ring set with a ruby ; and then, with prom-
ises of help on the morrow, the princess and her
people returned to the village.

The next day the princess had the rafts
made and the Spanish army crossed the river ;
while crossing four horses were carried away
by the swift stream and drowned, for which the
Spaniards grieved very much, as these horses
had been of great service to them in their jour-
ney. When they arrived at the village they

FERDINAND DE SOTO. 1 85

found very pleasant quarters awaiting them ; as
there were not houses enough to hold all the
soldiers, some wigwams had been built in a
beautiful mulberry grove just outside the vil-
lage, and the Spaniards were delighted to stop
a while with these friendly Indians.

The mother of the princess was a widow
living some miles down the river, and De Soto
wished to see her, and, if possible, make a friend
of her, so the princess, as soon as she heard
this, sent twelve of her chieftains to invite her
mother to visit her ; but the queen refused to
come, and said that her daughter had done
wrong to receive the Spaniards. This made
De Soto all the more desirous to make the
queen his friend, so he sent thirty of his men
to see her, with large presents and offer of
friendship. The princess sent one of her rela-
tives to guide the party ; he was a young man
about twenty years old, very handsome, and
with fine manners. He was dressed in a suit of
soft deerskin which was trimmed with embroid-
ery and fringe, and wore a head-dress made of
feathers of various colors ; he carried in his

1 86 FERDINAND DE SOTO.

hand a beautiful bow, highly polished, so it
shone like silver, and at his shoulder hung a
quiver full of arrows. The Spaniards were de-
lighted with the fine appearance of their guide,
who indeed looked worthy to serve the charm-
ing princess, and the party left the village in
high spirits.

The guide led them along the banks of the
river, under the shade of fine old trees ; after a
walk of some miles they stopped for their noon-
day meal, seating themselves in the shade of a
beautiful grove through which they were pass-
ing. The young guide, who had been very
pleasant and talkative all the way, now sudden-
ly became very quiet. He took the quiver from
his shoulder and drew out the arrows one by
one ; they were very beautiful arrows, highly
polished and feathered at the end ; he passed
them to the Spaniards, who admired them very
much, and while they were all busy looking at
them, the young Indian drew out a very long,
sharp arrow shaped like a dagger. Finding that
no one was looking at him, he plunged the arrow
down his throat, and almost immediately died.

FERDINAND DE SOTO. 1 8/

The Spaniards were much shocked and
could not imaghie why this had happened, but
they afterward found out that the young guide
was a great favorite with the queen, and that
knowing she did not want to see the Spaniards,
who, he thought, might perhaps seize her and
carry her away, and not daring to disobey the
princess, whom he loved and respected, he had
chosen this way to free himself from his trouble.

The other Indians did not know where the
mother was, so the Spaniards returned without
seeing her. De Soto was much disappointed
at this, and tried again to find her place of re-
treat, but without success. In the meantime
the Spaniards had heard from the Indians that
there were great quantities of white and yellow
metal in their country, and they thought it
must be gold and silver ; but when the Indians
brought it into camp, they found that the gold
was copper and the silver mica, and they were
again disappointed.

The princess now told De Soto that about
three miles away there was a village which was
once the capital of the kingdom, and that there

1 88 FERDINAND DE SOTO.

was a great sepulchre there, In which all their
chieftains and great warriors were buried, and
that immense quantities of pearls had been
buried with them. De Soto, with some of his
officers, and some of the Indian chiefs, visited
this place and found it to be a large building
three hundred feet long and over a hundred feet
wide, covered with a lofty roof; the entrance
was ornamented with wooden statues, some of
them twelve feet high, and there . were many
statues and carved ornaments in the inside. By
the side of the coffins were small chests, and in
these had been placed such things as it was
thought the dead chieftains would need in the
spirit world. When an Indian died his bow
and arrows were always buried with him, as it
was supposed he would need them in the
" happy hunting-grounds," and, besides, many
other things, as you already know. In these
chests the Spaniards found more pearls than
they had ever dreamed of. It is said that they
carried away from this place fourteen bushels
of pearls, and the princess told them if they
would visit other villages they would find

FERDINAND DE SOTO. 1 89

enough pearls to load down all the horses in
the army. The Spaniards were delighted and
proposed to De Soto that they should make a
settlement there, but he was determined to go
further on in search of orold.

He had noticed that for some time the In-
dians had not been so friendly as they were at
first ; some of his soldiers had ill-treated the
natives — although he had given strict orders
that they should not — and now he felt sure that
the princess meant to escape from the village,
and that her tribe would begin a warfare with
his army. So he thought the safest thing to do
would be to compel the princess to go with him
when he marched away. He knew that the
Indians would not harm him if she were with
him, as they would be afraid of harming her,
too ; so he told her it was necessary for her to
go with him. The princess did not like this
plan at all, but she said nothing, and in a few
days De Soto began his march accompanied by
the Indian princess, in her beautiful palanquin,
which was attended by a large number of her
chieftains, all handsomely dressed, and wearing

I90 FERDINAND DE SOTO.

their gorgeous head-dresses with their nodding
plumes. For some days they travelled through
the forests, when one day, as they were passing
through a very thick wood, the princess sud-
denly leaped from her palanquin and disap-
peared among the trees. She had made this
plan with her warriors, and De Soto never saw
or heard of her again.

It is very sad to think that a friendship
which began so happily should have ended
thus, and had De Soto acted differently, the
princess would always have remembered him as
a noble man ; as it was, she must have been
sorry she ever trusted him at all. Had he told
her that he wished to leave her village, and to
part with her and her people as friends, she
would, no doubt, have let him go in peace;
but by carrying her off he made her his enemy
forever. His only excuse is that he thought
it would really be safer both for his men and
hers to make her o-o with him.

The Spaniards continued their journey, and
in a few days came to a large Indian village.
The young chief received De Soto kindly, as

FERDINAND DE SOTO. 19I

he had heard he did not come to make war.
He took him to his own house and gave his
men pleasant quarters, and they remained there
two weeks. The Indians told them that there
were copper and gold farther on, and some
Spaniards went to find it, but were again dis-
appointed. However, there were pearls in the
rivers, and some very beautiful ones were ob-
tained. Many of these pearls which the Indians
had were of little value, as they had bored holes
through them with a red-hot iron so they might
string them for necklaces and bracelets. De
Soto was presented with a string of pearls six
feet in length, with every pearl as large as a
hazelnut, which would have been of Immense
value, had not the beauty of the pearls been
dimmed by the action of fire. The Indians
obtained the pearls by laying the oysters on
hot coals, and as the heat opened the shells
the pearls could be taken out. To please
De Soto, the chief ordered his men to do
this in his presence, and from some of the
largest, ten or twelve pearls were taken about
the size of peas. De Soto left this pleasant In-

192 FERDINAND DE SOTO.

dian village and again commenced his march,
and now came many dark and sad days. The
Indians he met after this were mostly hostile,
and there were many dreadful battles in which
De Soto lost men and horses. They journeyed
summer and fall and winter, passed through
dense forests where the horses could scarcely
move, and marched over barren tracts of coun-
try where they could get no supplies ; they suf-
fered from hunger and sickness, and many died
on the weary march, but De Soto would not
turn back, he was still determined to find gold.
At length, when they were almost worn out
with travelling for days through a region more
dismal than any they had passed through, un-
inhabited, and filled with tangled forests and
swamps, they came to a small village, and here
De Soto discovered, not the gold he sought,
but something else which has made his name
immortal. The little village was built on the
banks of a river, and when De Soto went down
to its margin he saw that, compared with the
other rivers he had seen, it was like a sea.
The river was a mile and a half wide, and rolled

FERDINAND DE SOTO. I93

swiftly by, carrying with it trees and logs and
driftwood. For ages this great river had
rolled from the lake country above down to the
Gulf, but no white man had ever looked upon
it until now. De Soto, in his search for gold,
had discovered the great Mississippi, the largest
river in the United States, and one of the long-
est on the globe. The Indians called the river
Mesaseba, which means, in their language, the
Father of Waters.

De Soto did not remain here long, the chief
was not friendly, and after a few days' rest the
Spaniards crossed the Mississippi and contin-
ued their march.

Once they passed near an Indian village
whose chief came out to meet them. The chief
said, as the Spaniards were more powerful and
had better arms than the Indians, he believed
that their God was also better than the Indian
god, and he asked them to pray to their God
for rain, as the fields were parched for want of
water. De Soto replied that they were all sin-
ners, but that he would pray to God, the Father
of Mercies, to show kindness unto them.

194 FERDINAND DE SOTO.

So he ordered the carpenter to cut down
a large tree, which was carefully trimmed, and
then formed into a gigantic cross ; it was so
large that they were two days in completing it,
and it took one hundred men to raise it and plant
it in the ground. It was placed upon a bluff on
the western bank of the Mississippi. The morn-
ing after the cross was raised the whole Span-
ish army, and many of the natives, formed a
solemn religious procession and walked around
it. De Soto and the chief walked side by side,
and the natives and soldiers followed after, two
by two. It seemed for the time as if Indian
and Spaniard were not only friends, but broth-
ers. The priests chanted hymns and offered
prayers, and then the whole procession ad-
vanced two by two to the cross, knelt before it,
and kissed it. Upon the opposite shore of the
Mississippi thousands of Indians were gathered,
who were watching the service with the great-
est interest; at times they seemed to take part
in the exercises ; when the priests raised their
hands in prayer, they too raised their eyes to
heaven, and lifted up their arms as if asking

FERDINAND DE SOTO. I95

help, and the murmur of their voices floated
across the waters of the river, and mingled
with the sighing of the wind through the trees,
and with the notes of the Christian hymns, and
with the words of the Christian prayers ; and
the blue sky above smiled down alike on the
haughty Spaniard and on the simple native, as
he kissed the great wonder cross, the symbol of
Him to whom all men are the same, and whose
love reaches down to all.

After the prayers the people returned to the
village in the same order, the priests going be-
fore and chanting the Te Deum ; and Las Casas,
the historian, writing of this, says, " God, in his
mercy, willing to show these heathens that he
listeneth to those who call upon him in truth,
sent down, in the middle of the ensuing night, a
plenteous rain, to the great joy of the Indians."

So the rain fell, and the Indian sowed his
seed and gathered harvests of golden grain ;
and the cross stood there in the shadow of the
forest, and the mighty river rolled on before it,
and in the years to come, when the memory of
the Spaniard had almost faded away, it was

196 FERDINAND DE SOTO.

Still to the red man a sig^n of the love of the
Great Spirit, who had helped them in their need.

De Soto did not stay long among these
friendly Indians, but pressed on his way. There
were again toilsome marches and weary hours
of disappointment, and, at last, the brave heart
of the leader grew sad and hopeless. The cli-
mate was unhealthful, and De Soto was taken
sick with fever, and at the same time he was
told that the chief of that country was getting
ready for a great battle, in which all the neigh-
boring tribes would join, and that they meant to
kill every Spaniard in the country.

But De Soto could fight no more battles, for
he was dying. One by one the faithful soldiers
knelt by his bed, and weeping, bade him fare-
well. He asked them to live as brothers, loving
and helping one another, and urged them to
convert the natives to the Christian religion.
And so the brave soldier died, far from home
and that sunny Spain which he loved so well,
and the whole army wept for him, for they loved
him, and grieved to think that they should see
him no more.

FERDINAND DE SOTO. 19/

It was thought best not to let the Indians
know of De Soto's death, as they might attack
the Spaniards at once if they knew their great
leader was gone. So De Soto was buried at
night by torchhght, and no sakite was fired over
his grave, nor any dirge chanted by the priests ;
but the Indians suspected that he was dead, and
even visited the spot where he was buried; so
the soldiers, for fear the natives would remove
the body after they went away, decided to take
it up themselves and sink it in the river. They
cut down an evergreen oak, whose wood is al-
most as heavy as lead, and hollowing out a
place large enough for the body, placed it in it,
and at midnight it was taken out to the middle
of the river, into whose depths it immediately
sank. Then the soldiers, in the silence and
darkness, returned to the camp, and De Soto
was left alone in the wilderness, and only the
stars and the river knew where he slept.

His soldiers built some boats and sailed
down the Mississippi to the Gulf, and after
much hardship reached a Spanish settlement in
Mexico. Few were left of the brilliant com-

198 FERDINAND DE SOTO.

pany that had left Spain three years before, and
so ended the expedition which had sailed away
from home so gaily. Their search for gold had
been like following the will-o'-the-wisp, which
leads on and on, and then vanishes at last, leav-
ing you alone in the darkness.

CHAPTER XIV.

VERRAZANO.

In France, as well as other European coun-
tries, the wonderful accounts of the wealth of
India and Cathay had been listened to with de-
light and surprise, and the king, Francis I., de-
termined to send out some ships and see if they
might not discover the new way to the East
that people had been looking for so long. He
thought, too, that he would claim and settle a
part of America, so that the New World should
not be entirely owned by Spain and England.
Before this, France had been content with send-
ing- a few fishermen to the northern coasts of
America, but they made no settlements, and, as
soon as the fishing season was over, always
went back to France again.

But in 1523 an expedition left France for
the purpose of finding a passage to Cathay, and
exploring the coast of America. The expedi-

200 VERRAZANO.

tion was commanded by Giovani Verrazano, an
Italian. Soon after leaving France, a tempest
came up, and all the ships but one were obliged
to return; but Verrazano, with this one, the
Dauphine, went on to the Madeiras, and leav-
ing that place in January, 1524, sailed boldly
across the Atlantic. After a voyage of over a
month, during which time another very severe
storm overtook them, they at last saw land. It
is supposed that this was the coast of Carolina.
Fires were blazing all along the coast as far as
the eye could reach, and Verrazano knew by
that that the country was inhabited. He sailed
along for many miles, keeping close to the
shore, and was delighted with the new coun-
try, which seemed more beautiful than any he
had ever seen before. The shore was covered
with fine white sand, making a beach nearly
fifteen feet wide, quite level, except here and
there where the sand was formed into hillocks,
which were covered with strong short grass.
Back from the shore were broad fields, which
were kept fresh by the numerous streams that
flowed into the sea, and still farther back stood

VERRAZANO. 20I

immense forests, whose great variety of color
charmed the eye. Verrazano was surprised to
find here many kinds of trees that were un-
known to him, and said that no words could
describe the beauty of these forests. " Think
not," he says, "that they are like the Crimean
forests, or the solitudes of Scythia, or the rigid
coasts of the north, but adorned with palm
trees, and cypress, and laurel, and species un-
known to Europe, which breathe forth from
afar the sweetest of odors."

And combined with the aromatic perfume of
the pines was the scent of the violets and roses,
and of the beautiful lilies that swung in the
lakes, and everywhere birds were singing, and
graceful deer looked with startled eyes through
the leaves of the hanging vines ; and the first
impulse of the Frenchmen was to land and en-
joy some of the flowers and fruits of this fair
land.

In the meantime the natives had come down
to the beach, and stood looking with wonder on
the Frenchmen ; but as soon as the seamen
rowed toward the shore the timid Indians fled

9*

202 VERRAZANO.

toward the woods. But the Frenchmen, by signs
and friendly motions, made them understand
that they need not fear, and soon they all came
crowding round the seamen with cries of delight,
pointing out at the same time the best place to
land. Verrazano, in turn, was delighted at the
appearance of the natives, whose fine figures,
and beautifully ornamented robes, and gayly
decked out hair, placed them above the common
savages that the Frenchman expected to find in
the wilds of America. After a pleasant little
call here, Verrazano kept on his way, still going
northward, carefully examining the coasts, and
finding everywhere the same luxuriant growth
of trees and fiowers. Still, there was no good
harbor to be seen ; but as the ship was in need
of fresh water he decided to try and land. But
this he found to be impossible, as the waves
broke with great force upon the open beach,
making it dangerous for any boat that ventured
too near. The natives stood on the shore watch-
ing his efforts, and stretched out their hands as
if inviting him to land, but he was obliged to
give up the attempt and go back to the ship.

VERRAZANO. 203

The natives still continued to make friendly
signs, and Verrazano replied to them as well as
he could, and ordered a sailor to swim ashore
with some presents. The man obeyed, and got
near enough to the shore to throw the gifts into
the ready hands of the Indians ; but as he turned
to swim back to the boat he was overpowered
by the breakers and dashed upon the beach.

The Indians immediately surrounded him,
and lifting him up gently, carried him farther
up on the beach, out of the reach of the waves.
But as soon as the man recovered from his faint,
and saw where he was, he began crying loudly
for help, and as the natives^ answered his cries
with louder and shriller ones of their own, Ver-
razano and his companions expected to see the
unfortunate seaman speedily killed by the sav-
ages ; but in this they were mistaken, for the
Indians, after they had sufficiently admired the
whiteness and delicacy of his skin, built a fire,
and did all they could to help him out of his
trouble. Verrazano met the same kindness from
all the people along the coast ; he found them
always ready to offer their friendship, and to be

204 VERRAZANO.

of use whenever they could. It is sad to think
that for all the good he met at their hands
he should allow his men to return evil ; but
such is the case, for one of them having kid-
napped a little Indian boy, the captain not only
allowed him to be received on the ship, but car-
ried him away to France, and none of his friends
ever heard from him again.

The Dauphine went on up the coast, turn-
ing in now and then to explore, a little way, the
many bays and rivers which it passed, and
reached, one pleasant day, what is now known
as the Bay of New York. Leaving his ship,
Verrazano took a boat and sailed into the inner
bay, approaching the island on which New
York City now stands. This was the most
beautiful spot that the voyagers had yet seen.
All around stretched the wooded heights of
New Jersey and Long Island, and the great
river coming from the north seemed to promise
a fair passage to some far distant land. The
natives came thronging down on the beach from
both shores, and, from their friendly tones and
signs, seemed to offer a welcome ; but before

VERRAZANO. 20$

Verrazano could go very far into the " beautiful
lake," as he called the harbor, he was com-
pelled by the rising of the wind to put back to
the ship and sail on. But his visit is interest-
ing, because he was probably the first white
man who had visited the beautiful harbor which
to-day is known as one of the greatest commer-
cial ports in the world.

And now the course was changed, and the
Dauphine sailed east through Long Island
Sound until Narragansett Bay was entered, and
then a northerly course was taken, and the
harbor of Newport reached. Verrazano de-
scribes the country as very fair and pleasant,
and indeed it must have appeared so, with its
fields of blossoming trees and miles of stately
forests. Before the boat touched the shore, the
natives flocked down to the beach, and thirty
canoes surrounded the vessel, all filled with the
wondering Indians. At first they did not come
very near, but sat at some distance from the
ship, silently admiring the white-skinned stran-
gers before them ; and then they suddenly gave
a long shout of welcome, and began to come

206 VERRAZANO,

near to the ship and take the gifts of beads and
bells and knives that the seamen threw out to
them, and finally their last fear vanished and
they entered the ship. Here, as farther south,
Verrazano was struck with the fine faces and
figures of the natives. Among them were two
kings, the elder one about forty years of age.
He was dressed in a robe of deer-skins beauti-
fully embroidered, and wore around his neck a
chain of gold set with large stones of various
colors. His head was bare, but his hair was
carefully arranged, tied behind, and ornamented
with pearls and feathers. The younger king,
who was about twenty-four, was dressed in the
same way, and all the warriors who accom-
panied them wore deer-skins highly orna-
mented and polished. The women did not ap-
proach the vessel, but remained at a distance,
seated in the canoes ; but Verrazano saw that
they were fine-looking, and modest in behavior,
and that they too wore the finely-dressed skins
of the deer, and had their hair arranged in a
variety of ornamental braids. The hair of the
older women was arranged very much like that

VERRAZANO. 20/

of the women of Egypt and Syria, and the mar-
ried women were distinguished by ear-rings of
certain, pecuHar form.

Verrazano stayed here some fifteen days,
pleasantly entertained by the natives, and find-
ing them always friendly and trustful. He made
several trips up the bay, and examined the
shores closely in search of gold and silver, which
he found the natives thought much less of than
they did of the brass rings and strings of beads
that he bestowed upon them. But evidently
the bay did not lead to Cathay, and no pre-
cious metals were found on its borders, and so
Verrazano got the Dauphine under way again,
and taking affectionate leave of the Indians,
sailed out into the Atlantic and up the coast
toward Maine. And now the country changed
very much in appearance, and the natives were
less friendly. There were no beautiful palm-
trees, or delicate blossoms of apple and peach,
and in place of green fields and sunny mead-
ows, were only sand and rocks. The na-
tives would not come near the ships or let
the Frenchmen land, and the trading was all

208 VERRAZANO.

done by means of a long cord stretching from
the ship to the shore, and over which the
articles were passed, the natives retreating hur-
riedly to the woods as soon as the bargains
were made. But Verrazano landed in spite of
the opposition of the Indians, and went several
miles into the country. He found that the huts
were poorer than those at Narragansett Bay,
which were made of split logs and nicely
thatched, and that the country was poorer, too,
than any he had seen yet. When he started
back to the ship the natives followed his party,
shooting arrows at them, and showing their
anger by fierce, wild cries. But the Frenchmen
reached the ship in safety, and were soon sail-
ing away, still northward, and soon reached the
shores of Maine, whose outlying islands, Ver-
razano said, reminded him of some portions of
the Adriatic. And then, being short of provi-
sions, and knowing that the whole wide sea
lay between him and France, he turned the
Dauphine homeward, having explored the At-
lantic coast, from the Carolinas to Maine, more
carefully than any other navigator had yet

VERRAZANO. 209

done. When he returned to France he gave it
as his opinion that the passage to Cathay did
not He through the New World, and stated that
America was very much larger than Europeans
had hitherto believed. His voyage is consid-
ered important because of the good idea he
gave of the eastern coast of America, and be-
cause he corrected the wrong belief that the
New World was as small as other navigators
had declared.

But he could not make them believe that
there was no passage to Cathay through the
fair provinces of the New World : that beautiful
dream was not dispelled for many a long year
after Verrazano and his bold crew had become
old and gray.

CHAPTER XV.

JACQUES CARTIER.

Verrazano told such wonderful stones of
America that many other Frenchmen felt a
desire to go and see the country for themselves
and find out if the stories were true. But some
years passed before any new expedition was
sent out, and even then it was only undertaken
because the French became jealous of the power
that Spain was getting in the New World.

Spain already claimed Mexico, Peru, Florida,
and the Pacific, and all at once the French king
became alarmed and asked if God had created
the new countries for Castilians (Spaniards)
alone ! His courtiers hastened to tell him no,
indeed, and that France had as good a right as
any other country to own and settle America.
And so Verrazano was sent out, and after him,
ten years later, came Jacques Cartier, who left
the fort of St. Malo in April, 1534.

JACQtTES CARTIER FINDS NEWFOUNDLAND INHOSPITABLB.

JACQUES CARTIER. 211

The ships sailed across the Atlantic, taking a
more northerly course than usual, and in twenty
days reached Newfoundland. Cartier coasted
along until he reached the Straits of Belle Isle,
which he passed through and entered the Gulf
of St. Lawrence, and then sailed leisurely along
the western coast of Newfoundland. But much
to his disappointment the country was not beau-
tiful and pleasant, as he had heard, but, on the
contrary, very dismal and inhospitable. The
fertile valleys and green fields that Verrazano
had spoken of were nowhere to be seen, but
instead only rocks and stones, and wild rough
coasts.

The natives were very savage in appear-
ance and not very friendly ; and Cartier made
a very short stay here, and steered across the
Gulf to a bay on the opposite side, where he
found the natives also in poor condition, living
on raw fish and flesh, without clothing, and us-
ing their upturned canoes as houses. But the
country itself was much pleasanter than that on
the opposite side of the Gulf, and so Cartier
decided to take possession of it. Accordingly

212 JACQUES CARTIER.

he called all his company together, and with
great ceremony raised a huge cross and claimed
the whole region for the King of France.

The natives had all gathered round and
stood looking on curiously. There stood the
cross, thirty feet high, carved with three fleur-
de-lys, and the inscription, "Vive le Roi de
France;" and not at all understanding what
right these strangers had to their country, the
chief and his principal men told Cartier, as
well as they could by signs, that they would
much rather he should take the cross down
again and go away with his ships and leave
them in peace. And Cartier explained to them
in turn that the king he served was very pow-
erful and rich, and able to send many soldiers
and take the land by force if he so wished ;
but that also he was a very kind and loving
king, and wanted to do all that he could for
the Indians, and that the very best thing that
could happen to them would be to have some
Frenchmen come there and settle and teach
them the arts of peace.

And then he gave them some trifling pres-

JACQUES CARTIER. 21 3

ents, some strings of glass beads, and yards
of bright calico, and bits of colored glass, and
shining penknives, and the Indians were so
impressed by these gifts that, partly from a
desire to obtain more, and partly through fear
of the great unknown king, they not only let
the cross remain standing, but what was much
more, the chief consented to let his two sons
go back to France with Cartier, and see for
themselves the riches and power of his coun-
try and king.

And so the two Indian boys sailed away
with these white strangers, and learned stran-
ger things than they had ever dreamed of.
Never before had they been farther away from
land than they could go in a day's journey
in their birch bark canoes ; but now, as they
stood on the deck of this great ship, and saw
the land fade from their sight, and the great,
boundless sea all around stretch away and
away until it met the sky, and the sun drop
down into the water and redden its glossy
waves, it was all so different from what they
had been used to that their hearts grew sick

214 JACQUES CARTIER.

with longing for home and the fear that they
had sailed into a new world and left their
friends forever. But by and by, as the familiar
stars came out, and the moon's friendly face ap-
peared, and the night came softly down on the
sea, the ship ceased to seem so strange and
looked very comfortable and pleasant, and when
the morning came they did not look backward,
but only forward, to that mysterious France to-
ward which they were sailing, and which they
reached after a pleasant voyage early in Sep-
tember.

Cartier had been gone four months, and his
account of his voyage was so encouraging that it
was decided to send out another expedition as
soon as the winter was over. The Indian lads
were well received at the French court. The
king was very kind and condescending and
generous, and told them that it would be his
greatest pleasure to send over some of his sub-
jects, and make all the Indians Christians.
And the two boys, Taignoagny and Domagaia,
looked at the silk and velvet robes of the French
nobles, and at the diamonds and rubies that

JACQUES CARTIER. 21$

glittered in their sword-hilts, and at the king's
beautiful palaces, and the marble cathedrals and
splendid mansions of Paris, and decided that to
be a Christian must be indeed a happy lot, and
expressed their willingness to have their whole
tribe converted as speedily as possible.

Their whole visit was a succession of
wonders and delights, for France was more
beautiful even than their wildest dreams of
their own " happy hunting-grounds," where it
was supposed that the Indians had everything
they could desire. But what Canadian Indians
had ever dreamed of such a land as this, with
its fields of flowers, and miles of ripened grain,
and sunny slopes purple with luscious grapes ?
Even the winter was pleasant, with but little
snow and ice outside, and warm, comfortable
rooms inside. Very different from their own
winter, where the snow lay thick on the ground
for months, and the rivers and lakes were
frozen, and the pines and balsams hung thick
with icicles whose musical tinkling seemed like
a sad song for the summer that was gone.
Yes, Cartier had told the truth, his king was

2l6 JACQUES CARTIER.

very powerful and rich and great, and when the
spring came and another fleet left St. Malo,
Taignoagny and Domagaia were quite in love
with France, and very eager for the voyage
to be over, so that they could tell their
friends all the wonderful things they had seen
there.

Cartier and his companions were in fine
spirits, for the voyage promised to be a fair one,
and they were all sure that honor and wealth
awaited them in the New World. In August
they arrived at the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and
passing Anticosti Island entered the mouth of
a great river. Taignoagny and Domagaia said
that the name of this river was Hochelaga, and
that it came from a far distant country, and was
so long that no man had ever seen the begin-
ning of it. Cartier listened to this story with
interest ; the stream was so broad and deep
that he thought perhaps it was not a river at
all, but a strait, and that he had at last dis-
covered the long looked-for passage to the
East. But the Indians told him that as they
went up the river it became narrower, and its

JACQUES CARTIER. 21/

waters changed from salt to fresh, and then
Cartier saw that it could not be the wished-for
strait, and so made no haste to follow its course.

He sailed slowly up the great river, which is
now known as the St. Lawrence, examining
the country on either side, and looking for a
good place to spend the winter. He passed
the Saguenay, and some distance beyond an-
chored at an island called by him Isle-aux-Cou-
dres, because of the abundance of hazels, and
after a short stay here, sailed still farther on and
stopped at another island, which abounded in
grapes and which he called Bacchus Island —
now known as the Isle d' Orleans. Here he re-
ceived a visit from the natives, a large number
of whom had come from the shore in canoes to
look at these white visitors.

Cartier invited them on board his ship, but
they were afraid to come very near until Tai-
gnoagny and Domagaia appeared, and assured
them there was no danger, and that the French-
men were friends. The Indians were rejoiced
to see their two young countrymen again, and
came crowding aboard the ships to hear their

21 8 JACQUES CARTIER.

wonderful stones about France. Donnacona,
the chief, made a long speech, in which he
offered his friendship to Cartier and thanked
him for his kindness to his young countrymen,
and then kissed his hand and placed his arms
about his neck in token of gratitude and trust,
and then he invited Cartier and his men to his
own home at Stadacona, a little village which
stood where now stands the beautiful city of
Quebec. The village stood on the cliffs, high
above the river, which flowed beneath, and which
formed there a pleasant and safe harbor for the
ships. So Cartier accepted Donnacona's invi-
tation and they all went to Stadacona, and spent
some time there very pleasantly, getting ac-
quainted with the Indians and learning their
mode of living, listening to their stories of bear
and deer hunts, and their accounts of snow-
shoeing and tobogganing, and expeditions up
the river and into the great forests all around.
Particularly they liked to dwell upon their
battles with another great chief who lived far-
ther up the river. This was Hochelaga, after
whom the river was named, and who was the

JACQUES CARTIER. 219

most powerful chieftain in the country. Don-
nacona was very jealous of him, and was there-
fore much surprised and grieved when one
day Cartier said that he had made up his mind
to go and pay Hochelaga a visit.

In vain Donnacona tried to make him believe
that the way was long and dangerous, and that
Hochelaga would probably take him prisoner
and treat him and his men very cruelly. Car-
tier was all the more resolved to go. And then
Donnacona resolved to play a trick upon him,
and see if he could not frighten him from go-
ing to Hochelaga, and so keep all the shining
looking-glasses and knives, and bright basins,
and pretty glass beads for himself and his own
people, for he could not bear to think that any
of this wealth should fall into his rival's hands.
So one afternoon, as Cartier and his friends
stood looking over the sides of their ship, they
saw a most horrible sight. A canoe pushed out
from shore and approached the vessel. It was
paddled by some disguised natives, and in it
were three Indian devils. And dreadful devils
they were — the Frenchmen had certainly never

220 JACQUES CARTIER.

imagined such a kind before. Their faces were
as black as soot, and they were dressed in black
and white hogskins, and wore horns more than
a yard long on their heads. And as they neared
the ship they shouted and yelled in a very dia-
bolical manner, and altogether acted as much
like devils as they knew how. And crowds of
natives followed them down to the bank, shriek-
ing and howling and throwing up their hands,
and then rushing back to the woods as if in
great fright. Taignoagny and Domagaia, who
stood by Cartier's side, also threw up their
hands, and looking toward heaven declared
that these devils had come from Hochelaga,
and that the god Cudruaigny had sent them to
warn the French that all who attempted to
visit Hochelaga should perish on the way, for
Cudruaigny would send snow-storms, and ice-
storms, and cold piercing blasts from the north,
and the French would all die miserably of cold
and exposure.

But the French only laughed at the devils,
and called Cudruaigny a " noddy," and said
they had received word from heaven that the

JACQUES CARTIER. 221

weather would be fair, and that they would all
be defended from the cold, and so the Indian
devils, who were no match for French priests,
turned back to the shore, and the natives, giving
three loud shrieks in token of their defeat, took
the devils in their midst and began a wild dance
on the beach ; and the next day, when Cartier
started for Hochelaga, they sent their good
wishes with him, and promised protection to
those who remained behind.

For days and days Cartier sailed along the
beautiful banks of the great river, stopping now
and then to enter the great forests which were
full of all kinds of game, or to gather the wild
grapes that hung full on every side ; and every-
where the natives came down to the beach and
greeted them pleasantly, and when they reached
Hochelaga they found a great crowd of Indians
waiting to receive them and lead them to their
village. Cartier and his companions put on
their velvet mantles, and plumed hats, and daz-
zling swords, and marched on with great pomp,
followed by the admiring crowd.

The village was very pleasantly situated ;

222 JACQUES CARTIER.

in front flowed the shining waters of the Ho-
chelaga, which was nearly a mile wide at that
point, and behind, like a protecting spirit, stood
the beautifully wooded mountain which Cartier
called Mount Royal, a name which it still bears.
The village itself stood in the midst of great
fields of Indian corn, ripe for gathering, sur-
rounded by palisades for defence against hos-
tile tribes. There were about fifty huts, that
of the chief being the largest, and situated
in the centre near the great public square,
where all the people now gathered and look-
ed with wonder and reverence on these new-
comers. And the mothers brouo-ht their little
children in their arms, and begged that these
white strangers would touch them, thinking in
some strange way that even the touch of these
^wonderful visitors would bring blessing with it.
They were quite ready to believe that these
white men came from a land richer and greater
than their own ; indeed they would have be-
lieved that they came from heaven itself if Car-
tier had told them so, for all the Indians always
worshipped beautiful objects, and they thought

JACQUES CARTIER. 223

that men whose skin was soft and white, and
who wore such rich clothing, must belong in
some great land where men were nobler and
better than poor half-clothed races like their
own.

And so they brought their sick king and
laid him down before Cartier, and asked him to
touch him and heal him, and Cartier knelt down
and rubbed the king's useless limbs and prayed
over him ; but more than that he could not do.
But the sight of the kneeling Christians, and the
sound of their prayers uttered to an unseen God,
filled the Indians with awe : they too knelt down
and looked toward heaven, and made the sign
of the cross, and prayed as well as they knew
how, that the strangers' God would pity them
and heal their sick and lame and blind.

King Agouhanna then gave his crown of
porcupine quills to Cartier as a token of grati-
tude, and as this was the only thing of the least
value that the poor chief possessed, Cartier ac-
cepted it with great courtesy, and in return pre-
sented the tribe with some of those brass rings
and brooches and beads and knives that Don-

224 JACQUES CARTIER.

nacona had tried in vain to keep for himself.
And these made the Indians wild with joy, and
so altoofether the visit of the Frenchmen was a
great success, and when they returned to Stada-
cona they told such stories of the kindness and
good-will of the Indians at Hochelaga that
Donnacona was quite devoured with jealousy
and hated his rival more than ever.

The French built a fort now, and got ready
to spend the winter comfortably, and their prep-
arations were made none too soon, for in a few
weeks the river had frozen over, and the ships
lay buried in snow, and the strangers began to
see a Canadian winter for themselves and
judge how they liked it. Although very dif-
ferent from any winter they had ever spent
before, it might have been a pleasant one had
not a terrible disease broken out among the In-
dians, which soon spread to the French camp.
In a short time twenty-four of Cartier's men had
died, and the rest were all sick but three.

Cartier became afraid that the Indians would
attack the fort and destroy his men, if they
learned of their weakness, so he ordered them

JACQUES CARTIER. 22$

to keep away, and whenever any of them came
near he had his men beat against the sides of
their berths with sticks and hammers, so that
the Indians would think they were at work. But
the Indians, instead of meaning harm, thought
only of doing good. As soon as they learned
that the French had taken the disease they came
to them and offered their own remedies, and tried
in every way to be of use. The squaws brought
to the camp the boughs of a certain tree and
taught the French how to prepare tea from the
bark and leaves, and this medicine was so pow-
erful that in a few days all the sick became well,
not only those who were suffering from this dis-
ease, but also those who were afflicted with any
other malady. It is not known exactly what this
tree was ; it may have been the sassafras, or
possibly the spruce ; but whatever it was it
cured the sick and the French were very grate-
ful, and said that all the physicians in France
could not have done as much in a year as these
Indian squaws accomplished in one day by
means of this wonderful medicine.

The French made a very cruel return for all

226 JACQUES CARTIER.

the kindness they had received from their dark-
skinned friends, for in the spring, when Cartier
left Canada, he carried with him the good chief
Donnacona and nine of his countrymen as pris-
oners to France. It was a very wicked and
treacherous thing to do, for Cartier had invited
the chief and his men on board the ships to take
part in a feast that was being given in honor of
his departure ; but as soon as he saw that the
Indians were in his power he gave orders for
the ship to sail, and so Donnacona and his
friends were carried away from their relatives,
who stood crying and begging for mercy on the
bank of the river, and that was the way the
French left Canada and its friendly people, who
had shown them nothinof but kindness and trust.
It was not usual for Frenchmen to treat In-
dians in this way, for of all the Europeans who
came to America the French were the most be-
loved by the natives. They were the only ones
who could live peaceably side by side with
their Indian neighbors, who grew to love and
respect them, sometimes attending their churches
and often bringing their children to be baptized

JACQUES CARTIER. 22/

by the kindly French priests, and Cartier being
a Frenchman was afterward very sorry for the
deceit he had practised, and, no doubt, would
have taken Donnacona and his captive friends
back again to Canada ; but the Indians could not
live in exile, and before long they had all died
of homesickness except one little girl, who in-
deed grew up and married happily, but who still
longed all her life for a sight of the wide shining
river and the dark clustered pines of her native
land.

Four years after, France made another at-
tempt to settle Canada. Cartier then met with
the reward of his former treachery. The Indians
were no longer friendly, and refused to believe
him when he said that only Donnacona was
dead, and the rest were all married and living in
France as q^reat lords.

Besides, the French had been disappointed
in not finding gold and silver in the country,
and so after awhile Cartier's ship sailed back to
France again, and it was nearly fifty years before
another attempt was made to make a French
settlement in the northern part of America.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE HUGUENOTS.

About the middle of the sixteenth century
a great rehgious quarrel arose in France, be-
cause some of the people wished to leave the
Roman Catholic Church and found a new re-
ligion. These people were called Huguenots,
and the king of France and the priests of
the Church, and most of the great noble-
men, thought they would be doing a very
nice and good thing if they could make the
Huguenots come back into the Church again
and be satisfied with their old faith. So many
cruel things were done by the king- and his
ministers, and the poor Huguenots had a very
hard time of it. They were shot and burned
and hanged — men and women and little help-
less children ; and the more Huguenots were
murdered, the more the king thought that he
was doing God good service.

THE HUGUENOTS. 229

But there was one great nobleman who
thought the Huguenots were right, and joined
himself to them and said he would give his
money and his life to protect them. This man
was Admiral Coligny ; and as he was very rich
and powerful he decided to send the Huguenots
away from France to America, where they would
be able to live peaceably, without fear of the
cruel king.

So Coligny sent out some ships, carrying as
many Huguenots as they could, to the New
World, and every one thought that the trouble
would be nicely settled in this way and that
France was well rid of the Huguenots.

The company was commanded by John Ri-
bault, a very good and brave man, and one not
likely to be discouraged, for it needed a brave
heart to lead these people so far from their
loved France and find homes for them in a
strange land. The voyage was very long and
so stormy that it seemed sometimes they would
never reach America at all, and they grew very
tired of the sight of the sea, always so gray and
threatening, looking like a great monster ready

230 THE HUGUENOTS.

to devour them all ; but at last, one beautiful
spring day, as they stood looking wearily to-
ward the west, a very fair and pleasant country
met their view.

A shining, level beach stretched up and
down, and behind this the land was green with
great trees whose waving branches seemed to
nod a welcome to the strangers. As far as they
could see this beautiful forest was all that met
their eyes, not a sign of hill or mountain ; and
the next day, when, after sailing along the coast
a little way, they entered the mouth of a deep,
broad river, and saw the fresh meadow grass,
and smelled the perfume of the shrubs and flow-
ers, they thought that they had been indeed led
to a pleasant home, and hoped that their trou-
bles were over. It was on the first day of May,
1562, that they landed on the banks of this
river, and for that reason they called it the river
of May — it is now known as the St. John. The
Indians, no doubt, wondered very much to see
these white strangers, but they received them
very kindly and showed them by signs and gifts
that they wished to be friends ; they brought

THE HUGUENOTS. 23 1

them finely-dressed skins, and leather girdles,
and strings of pearls, and golden ornaments ;
and the French gave in return some colored
beads and shining knives, and — most wonderful
of all to the Indians — squares of tiny looking-
glasses. These seemed very beautiful to the
simple natives, who had never seen their faces
before except in the clear waters of their lakes
and rivers.

The second day after the landing Ribault set
up a stone column on which were engraved the
arms of France. He meant by this that he
claimed all that country for the king of France,
and for any Frenchmeil who might want to come
there and live, and that no other European na-
tion would be allowed to settle there without
his permission. The Indians did not in the least
know what the stone column meant ; they did not
suppose for a moment that these kind-looking
strangers, whom they had received so cordially,
meant in return to take possession of their land
just as much as if it had been given them by
their chiefs. But this is just what the French
did mean to do, and if the Indians had been

232 THE HUGUENOTS.

unfriendly there would have been a great deal
of trouble; but the natives of Florida were
among the most peaceable of the Indian tribes,
and they and the new-comers got along very
peaceably and grew very fond of one another.
Everywhere in America the Indians were treated
better by the French than by any other nation,
and wherever the French settled the Indians
soon became their friends. So the Huguenots
took possession of their new home and found
living there very pleasant, indeed ; and in fact
they could scarcely have chosen a better place
than this fair land, with its abundance of fruits,
its rivers full of fish, and its forests abounding in
animals, valuable for food and skins. But al-
though this pleasant country seemed almost
like heaven after the troubles they had had in
France, still they were not satisfied. They no-
ticed that the Indians wore ornaments of gold
and silver, and that they had great strings of
pearls and turquoises ; and these things seemed,
in the eyes of the French, of more value than
anything else. And then, too, they had heard
marvellous stories of Cibola, a place on the

THE HUGUENOTS. 233

Pacific coast, where there were great cities with
houses built of Hme and stone, and whose inhab-
itants wore garments of wool and cloth, and
decked themselves with turquoises and emer-
alds, and all their household utensils were
made of gold and silver, and the walls of their
temples were covered with gold, and their altars
were studded with precious stones. A wonder-
ful place was Cibola, containing, perhaps, a val-
ley of diamonds and rivers of gleaming pearls.
So they decided not to stay quietly here, but to
look around a little and see if they could not
find a place as rich in gold and silver and pre-
cious stones as Cibola itself

They sailed up the Atlantic coast and found
the country just as beautiful and promising as
their first view of it, and found also the same
kind welcome from the natives. By and by
they entered the harbor of Port Royal, and it
was decided that this would be a good place to
make a settlement, leaving some of their num-
ber there while the rest returned with Ribault
to France to report the success they had met
with. It, perhaps, would have been better If

234 THE HUGUENOTS.

they had all gone back home, for a very sorry
time had those who were left behind. Instead
of making provision for the future, they thought
only of the gold and silver they might get, and
depended entirely on the Indians for their food;
and although the Indians were most generous,
still their food gave out at last and the French-
men had nothinof to do but wait for Ribault's
return. But as the months passed and he did
not come, they set off for France in a small ves-
sel they had built, and after almost perishing of
hunger and thirst, were picked up by an Eng-
lish ship and taken on their way. The feeble
were sent on to France, but all the strong were
taken to England as prisoners ; and so ended
the first attempt of the Huguenots to settle
America.

But CoHgny decided to try again, and in
1567 another company of Huguenots left France
under the command of Rene de Laudonniere.
They had a pleasant voyage and arrived in June
at the River of May. As soon as they stepped
on the shore they were greeted with shouts of
welcome from the Indians, who came crowding

THE HUGUENOTS. 235

around crying out Ami ! Ami ! the only French
word they remembered.

How glad they were to hear this familiar
greeting. Like their friends who had been
there before, they felt that this pleasant place
would be a haven of rest from the stormy times
in France. Then Satournia, the Indian chief,
led them to the stone pillar that had been set
up two years before, and which they found
crowned with wreaths of bay and having at its
foot little baskets full of corn which the In-
dians had placed there. The simple-hearted
natives kissed the stone column reverently and
begged the French to do the same. And to
please them the Huguenots also kissed the pil-
lar on which were engraved the lilies of France,
and it seemed for a moment as if they were back
in their own loved homes again, peaceful and
happy, and that all the trouble that the cruel
king had caused them was only an ugly dream.

The next day the chief gave the new-comers
a stately reception, for these Indian chiefs be-
lieved just as much in ceremony as did the
great kings of Europe, and the Europeans who

236 THE HUGUENOTS.

came to America were very much surprised to
find such respect paid to rank and station.
But this reception was something very differ-
ent from any they had ever seen at a French
court, gorgeous as they always were. In-
stead of a gUttering throne and tapestry of
cloth of gold, they saw a beautiful bower of
trees and flowers. Dark pines and drooping
palms formed a great, graceful arch, which was
made still more beautiful with clusters of shining
orange blossoms and heavy white magnolias.
All the grass beneath was strewn with flowers,
and the air was sweet with perfume, and thrilled
with the songs of birds. The little Huguenot
children, looking on this wonderful scene,
thought it must be very pleasant to live in
such a place as this, where one might have
fruits and flowers all the time, and where even
the grown-up men and women had time to take
part in such festivities as they had never shared
before, except on very xzx^fete days ; and they
looked shyly at their little dark-colored Indian
friends and held their hands out to them, and
they all clasped hands and stood there a very

THE HUGUENOTS. 237

happy circle. Satournia stood under the shadow
of the arbor and received his guests with great
courtesy. He was clothed in skins so finely
dressed that they were as smooth and soft as
satin, and painted with strange pictures in
bright colors, and so well were the pictures
drawn and colored that the French said that no
painter, no matter how great he might be, could
find fault with them. And then the Indians
gave their guests beautiful gifts, but the great-
est gift of all was a great wedge of silver which
was the present of Athore, the son of Satour-
nia. Athore was a very handsome youth, and
had gentle manners and a noble disposition ;
and as he stood there under the trees and
offered the silver wedge to Laudonniere, the
Frenchman thought he had never seen a more
princely boy than this Indian lad, who had been
brought up in the wilds of Florida.

The sight of gold and silver made the French
very eager to leave this place, in search of the
rich mines which the Indians said were in the
interior of the country ; and one party after an-
other was sent out to find the treasures that

238 THE HUGUENOTS.

they so much desired. The Indians were con-
stantly telling wonderful stories of the wealth of
other tribes, and advising the French to under-
take expeditions against them. It was said
that the Indians of one tribe wore complete
armor of gold and silver, and that the women
had ornaments and girdles of the same precious
metals ; and another tribe was so rich that they
had a great pit full of gold for which they had
no use ; and above all, far back from the sea,
were the Apalichi Mountains, which were as full
of gold as the trees were full of blossoms.

But by and by the French began to suspect
that the Indians were cheating them, and that
they only told these stories in the hope that they
would go away and leave them undisturbed. So
fewer parties were sent out, and it was thought
that they might better have planted corn and
wheat than to have wasted so much time in a
vain search for gold. By and by the men be-
came dissatisfied and said that it was Laudon-
niere's fault that they had not done differently,
and blamed him for not having provided for the
safety of his people ; and one of the men said

THE HUGUENOTS. 239

that he had discovered by magic a mine of gold
and silver which he would lead the rest to if
they would kill Laudonniere, so that they might
get the keys of the storehouse and provide
themselves with food for the journey.

But this was not allowed by the officers, who
loved Laudonniere too well to want to see him
killed ; but it was only the beginning of many
plots and along time of disappointment and dis-
couragement, and it would have ended by their
all going back to France again, just as the first
Huguenots had done, had not an English fleet
appeared, commanded by Sir John Hawkins, who
gave them provisions enough to last them until
they could get back to France. But before they
sailed another fleet appeared, and as the ships
came nearer they saw the French flag floating
from the masts, and knew that help had come at
last. This fleet was commanded by Ribault
himself, and now it seemed that all their
troubles would be over.

Ribault now took command, and knowing by
experience that the search for gold and silver
would only be vain and idle, began, instead, to

240 THE HUGUENOTS.

make preparations for the coming winter, and
to provide against the attacks of unfriendly In-
dians. And now it seemed that having been
taught by their sufferings that only honest labor
and good-will among themselves could bring
comfort and peace, they really began this time
in the right way.

But hardly had a week passed when the
Huguenots learned that they were now to meet
an enemy far more terrible than the Indians, and
that all the trouble they had passed through
would not compare with what was coming. It
had been told in Spain that Coligny had sent out
a party to relieve the Huguenots in Florida, and
as the Spaniards were all Roman Catholics the
news was received by them with anger and
hatred, and they decided to send immediately a
Spanish force to Florida in hope of reaching
there before Ribault arrived. In this they did
not succeed, as Ribault had already brought
hope and comfort to the colonists before the
Spanish ships appeared at the mouth of the River
of May.

Ribault had left four of his ships there, and

THE HUGUENOTS. 241

when they saw the Spaniards they sailed off
to sea, knowing that was their only chance of
safety. The Spaniards were commanded by
Pedro Menendez. He told the captains of the
French ships that he had come there by order
of the King of Spain to burn and destroy all
the Huguenots in the country. This terrible
news reached Ribault, who was at the fort up
the river, at the same time with the information
that Menendez had landed his troops a few
miles southward and was preparing to attack
the fort. Ribault immediately decided to take
the three ships he had with him and sail down
to the mouth of the river, and with the help of
the other French, who had come back as soon
as Menendez left the River of May, fall upon
the Spaniards before they had time to build a
fort and destroy them. Laudonniere did not
approve of this plan, as he said the ships might
be scattered by sudden storms ; but Ribault in-
sisted that his plan was wisest, so he took all
the best soldiers and sailed down the river, leav-
ing all the women and children and sick at the
fort, with only a few men to defend them. But

242 THE HUGUENOTS.

the ships were scattered by storms just as Ri-
bault was ready to make the attack, and Menen-
dez then decided to march at once through the
forests and reach Fort CaroHne before Ribault
could return there.

It was a very bold undertaking, as no one
knew the way through the forests and swamps ;
but, as they were about to start, two Indians ap-
peared, and were made to serve as guides, while
a French deserter said he would show them
where the fort could be most easily attacked.
They marched two days though swamps and
woods, drenched with cold rains and suffering
from hunger ; but their fear of Menendez kept
them from turning back, and on the night of the
second day they reached the fort, and halting
before it stood knee-deep in water waiting for
the daylight.

The storm had driven the French sentinels
into the fort, and only one man was found at his
post, when, at daylight, the Spaniards sent a
small party to see if it were safe for them to
advance. This man was immediately put to
death, and then shouting " Santiago ! " their

THE HUGUENOTS. 243

terrible war-cry, the Spaniards rushed into the
fort and began their work of destruction. They
killed every one whom they could find — old men
and feeble women and innocent children — and
only those escaped who were able to steal away
in the gray twilight of the early morning and
hide in the woods and swamps.

And then Menendez, who thought he was
doing God service by this cruel deed, raised a
cross above the dead bodies, on which was
written,

"I do this not as to Frenchmen, but as to
Lutherans."

Which meant that he was not fighting
against the French nation, but only against the
Huguenots, who were also called Lutherans by
the Spaniards and Germans.

Among those who escaped was Laudon-
niere. He was found in the swamp in the
morning, and with the others who were left
sailed for France in the two vessels that Ri-
bault had left.

And now Menendez turned his attention to
Ribault and his companions, who had been

244 THE HUGUENOTS.

wrecked on an island. Ribault's party was
divided by an inlet of the sea, and Menendez
first attacked one part and murdered them all,
and then attacked the remainder, among whom
was Ribault himself, and binding- their hands
behind them led them to the place where their
companions lay dead. Then Menendez gave
them one chance for life. All who would prom-
ise to return to the Roman Catholic Church
would be spared. But Ribault and his fol-
lowers would not accept life on such terms ;
they answered that they were all Protestants.
So Menendez gave the signal and all these
Frenchmen were murdered also, and their
bodies left exposed on the shore.

And then Menendez went through the
swamp and forests of Florida hunting the Hu-
guenots who were still at large, and finally after
much trouble he succeeded in killing the most of
them, so there were few Huguenots left except
the fifers, drummers, and trumpeters, who were
spared because they might be of service. Then
Menendez returned to the settlement he had
made, and with great pomp and ceremony took

THE HUGUENOTS. 245

possession of the country In the name of the
King of Spain. And then they sung the Te
Deum and knelt down and kissed the crucifix,
and were well satisfied with themselves, think-
ing they had done a great and glorious thing.

The Indians looked on wonderingly. It no
doubt seemed very strange to them to see these
two Christian nations so eager to kill one an-
other. But the chief received the Spaniards
kindly and gave them his house to live in, and
then a fort was built, and from this humble be-
ginning grew the city of St. Augustine, the old-
est town in the United States.

The news of the massacre of the Huguenots
reached France, but for a long time it seemed
that nothing would be done to avenge it. The
king cared very little how many Frenchmen
where killed if they were not Roman Catholics,
and the Huguenots themselves had no power
to raise money and arms. 'But at length a brave
soldier, Dominique de Gourgues, returning to
France from foreign service, learned the terrible
fate of his fellow-countrymen and resolved to
punish their murderers. It is not known whether

246 THE HUGUENOTS.

De Gourgues was a Catholic or Huguenot, but
he cared little for difference of religion where
the honor of his country was concerned. He
said nothing of his plan, fearing the king might
hinder him from carrying it out. He gave out
that he was going on an expedition to the coast
of Africa, and selling his estates and borrowing
money from his friends he left France, August,
1564, with three ships, keeping his real destina-
tion a secret even from his own men. He really
did go to the coast of Africa, and from there to
the West Indies, and it was not until the next
spring that he made known the real object of his
leaving France. His ships were lying in a harbor
at the western extremity of Cuba, and calling his
men around him De Gourgues declared his in-
tention of going to Florida and avenging the
death of his countrymen, and asked how many
of his soldiers were willing to accompany him.
Not a man refused, and De Gourgues had, in
fact, great difficulty in persuading them to wait
until favorable weather for sailing, so eager were
they to reach Florida and begin their work of
vengeance. Every man felt, as De Gourgues

THE HUGUENOTS. 247

repeated the story of the murder at Fort Caro-
line, that France had indeed waited too long
to aven ore this fearful crime.

De Gourgues sailed from Cuba, and as he
passed the Spanish force at the mouth of the
River of May, they saluted his little fleet, think-
ing that the ships were Spanish. He returned
the salute, and then stood out to sea again, in
order to deceive the Spaniards, and going north
a few leagues entered the mouth of a small river.
The Indians, thinking that the strangers were
Spaniards, rushed down to the beach with
shouts and yells of hatred, and prepared to pre-
vent their landing. But no sooner did they see
that the new-comers were French than they fell
on their knees and kissed their hands and gave
them every possible sign of welcome. And
their joy was increased when they learned that
they had come to make war upon the Spaniards,
whom they feared and hated.

Satournia, the old friend of Ribault and Lau-
donniere, now welcomed their successor with the
same marks of friendship he had shown them,
and declared himself willing to join all his forces

248 THE HUGUENOTS.

with De Gourgues in his attack upon the Span-
iards. All the Indian warriors were called in,
and at a solemn meeting they promised faith and
help to the French, and as a proof of their good
intentions the chief placed his wife and son into
the hands of the French.

Then at a council of war they agreed that
the French should go by sea and the Indians
by land to a certain place farther south, where
they would join forces and march to St. Augus-
tine.

They met at the place appointed, and De
Gourgues leading the French, and Olotocara, a
nephew of Satournia, the Indians, they pushed
forward toward the fort. As the Spaniards had
done three years before, they had to wade
through swamps and streams, and make their
way through marshy forest lands, and their feet
were bruised and bleeding, and their clothing
torn, and their hands wounded with briers and
nettles ; but they did not care, but went on
all through the night, and scarcely felt weary
when at dawn they stood in front of the Spanish
fort on the north bank of the River of May.

THE HUGUENOTS. 249

Only one sentinel stood there as the French
and Indians came up in the gray light of the
early day, and as he saw the stern faces of the
enemy he no doubt thought of that other morn-
ing, three years before, when he had stood in
the drenching rain waiting for the daylight to
lighten the walls of Fort Caroline. But he
was a brave man, and shouting that the French
were upon them he turned his gun upon the
enemy, and stood there bravely to defend the
fort. But Olotocara springing upon the plat-
form ran the sentinel through with a pike, and
when the frightened Spaniards rushed out they
were met by French guns and Indian arrows,
and knew that the time for vengeance was come.
They tried in vain to escape, and cried in vain
for mercy ; they were only met with scorn and
hatred, and so swift and terrible was the work
of destruction that in a few moments all the
Spaniards were killed except fifteen, who were
found and held as captives.

The Spaniards at the fort on the other side of
the river knew that some stronger enemy than
the Indians must be attacking their friends, but

250 THE HUGUENOTS.

they could do little to help them, and in a short
time were obliged to think of defending them-
selves, for no sooner had De Gourgues com-
pleted his work on the north bank than he took
ship and sailed across the river, the Indians
swimming by the side of the vessels in their
eagerness to reach the fort. The Spaniards left
their works and fled into the forest, where the
Indians hunted them like beasts, and where
their cry for quarter was met with the same
pitiless response that had greeted the ears of
their comrades. Fifteen of them were bound
and their lives spared for a short time, and the
rest were speedily murdered.

Still another fort remained to be taken. The
Spaniards sent out from it a man disguised as
an Indian to find out how many French and In-
dians there were ; but the quick eyes of Oloto-
cara saw through the cheat and the man was
taken prisoner. There were three hundred
Spaniards in the fort, and they might easily have
overcome De Gourgues, who only had about a
hundred men ; but the Spaniards thought his
force was far greater, and when, two days after,

THE HUGUENOTS. 25 I

he appeared in the woods behind the fort, the
Spaniards thought that a great part of his sol-
diers were still on the way, and sent out a party
to scatter his forces before help could arrive.
But De Gourgues managed to place some of
his men between the fort and the Spaniards who
had left it, and thus they were in danger of the
fire from the fort as well as from the enemy in
front. The French fell upon them with their
swords, and not a man was left. The Spaniards
in the fort, discouraged at this, sought refuge in
the woods ; but few if any escaped. Still the
French cried no quarter, and still the Indians
remembered the wrongs they had suffered and
rejoiced that their enemies had fallen into their
hands. When the dreadful work of death was
over, De Gouro-ues hauled down the flao- of
Spain and raised the French banners on the fort,
and then he had the prisoners brought before
him, and told them he had come there to avenee
the insult which France had received at their
hands three years before. Then they were
led to the same trees on which Menendez had
hanged his prisoners, and over their heads was

252 THE HUGUENOTS.

placed this inscription, " I do this not as unto
Spaniards, but as unto traitors, robbers, and
murderers."

And then they were all hanged, and De
Gourgues thought his revenge was complete.
The Indians were satisfied too. " I am willing
now to live longer, for I have seen the French
return and the Spaniards killed," said an old
squaw, and that was the feeling of all her nation.
De Gourgues did not remain long in Florida,
and the Indians were very sorry to have him go,
and parted from him with many kind words and
promises of friendship ; and the French, too,
parted with regret from their dark-skinned
friends, and promised soon to return and make
their home among them, and so the fleet sailed
away again, and reached France in safety, al-
though the Spanish king hearing of the massacre
of his subjects had sent a force to prevent its
return home. But De Gourgues found that his
brave deed was not approved by the King of
France, and he soon had to leave court and live
very quietly, lest his enemies should find out
where he was. But everywhere throughout the

THE HUGUENOTS. 253

world he was looked upon by the Protestants
as a hero, and long years afterward the Indians
in Florida remembered affectionately the man
who had so bravely taken up the cause of the
unfortunate Huguenots.

CHAPTER XVII.

SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

Sir Walter Raleigh was a brave English
knight, the friend of Sir Philip Sidney, and Hke
him renowned for his chivalry. The story is
told that when he was a young man he hap-
pened one day to be standing on a street down
which Queen Elizabeth was passing, and as she
came to a crossing that was very muddy, Ra-
leigh stepped to her side and taking off his
cloak laid it down for her to walk upon. This
act of courtesy was the first thing that made
the queen notice him, and she immediately took
him into her favor and helped him all she could,
and her kindness was well bestowed, for Ra-
leigh was always the courteous, noble-minded
gentleman, ready to do any one a kindness, rich
or poor, high or low, and to serve his friends
and his country as far as was in his power. For
a long time after the visit of the Cabots, English-

SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 255

men thought very little about the New World,
but at length one or two voyages were made
there, and after this people began to think that
perhaps it would be a good thing to try to make
settlements there.

Raleigh was among the first Englishmen
who formed plans for the settlement of Amer-
ica, and as he was a great favorite of the
queen, he had very little trouble in carrying his
plans out. He was also very rich, and after
obtaining permission from Queen Elizabeth to
settle North America, he sent out two vessels
under command of Amidas and Barlow. The
ships reached the coast of Carolina in the month
of July, 1584, and took possession of the coun-
try in the name of the queen. The land seemed
to the voyagers like a glimpse of Paradise.
They spoke with delight of the " sweete-smell-
ing timber trees," and the abundance of grapes,
and of the shady bowers which echoed to the
music of wild birds, and of the gentle manners
of the natives who seemed to live " after the
manner of the golden age." They spent some
weeks there trading with the natives, but did

256 SIR WALTER RALEIGH,

not try to make a settlement, and then returned
to England, taking with them a cargo of furs
and woods.

The queen was delighted to hear that the
new country was so rich and beautiful as these
sailors described it to be, and said that because
it was discovered while she was queen her
reign would be forever famous ; the name given
to the country was Virginia, in honor to the
queen, who was unmarried. The sailors said
that Virginia had a good soil and fine climate,
and that the Indians were very kind and friendly.
Raleigh was delighted to hear this, and imme-
diately sent out another expedition which was
to settle on Roanoke Island. But when the
settlers arrived there they found that the In-
dians were not so friendly as at first ; they got
into a great deal of trouble with them, and as
they had been getting all their food from the
Indians they came very near starving. Instead
of planting corn and grain they spent their
time in searching for gold and silver mines,
and just as they were about to give up in de-
spair, a vessel stopped there on its way to Eng-

SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 25/

land and the captain took them all back home
again.

But Raleia"h was not discouras^ed ; he sent
out another company, two years afterwards
(1587), under John White. This company also
settled on Roanoke Island and laid the founda-
tions of the " City of Raleigh." And here, on
this wild American island, where a few years
before many brave Englishmen had been killed
by the savage Indians, where there were only
rough log-houses to live in, and where fierce
wild animals roamed through the gloomy forests,
was born one day a little baby girl. She was
the granddaughter of Captain John White, the
governor of the colony. This little girl was the
first child born in America of English parents,
and she was named "Virginia Dare." Some
time after White had to go back to England for
provisions ; he was away three years, and when
he returned to Roanoke every trace of the
colony had disappeared. And to this day no
one knows what ever became of the colonists,
and of little Virginia Dare. It is supposed that
they might have been carried away by the In-

258 SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

dians and spent their lives as captives, but no
one knows whether Virginia Dare grew up as
an Indian maiden, far away from her friends and
not knowing that she was the child of white
parents, or whether, with all the rest of the col-
ony, she perished by the hands of the Indians.
All we know is that, more than three hundred
years ago this little English maiden came to
live a while on the Island of Roanoke, and that
then she vanished as utterly as do the rain
drops that fall into the sea, and only her name
is remembered.

SMITH SAVKI) BY POCAHONTAS.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS, THE INDIAN PRIN-
CESS.

Pocahontas was a very beautiful child, and
was so good and sweet that she was loved by
all the tribe over which her father ruled. Her
home was in Virginia, and a very happy life she
led there, in the sunny woods, with the birds
and squirrels for her companions ; and in after
years, when she went to live far away across the
sea, the memory of her childhood home seemed
the sweetest thing in the world to her, for it
brought to her mind the songs of the birds, the
beautiful flowers, the waving trees, the bright
rivers, and the fair skies that she was so familiar
with when she was a little happy child.

To have had a happy childhood is a very
beautiful thing, it makes all after-life sweeter, it
is like the first spring flowers which we gather
in the meadow, and although by and by the

26o THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS.

snow will come and cover the place where they
bloomed, it cannot take away the memory of
their sweetness and loveliness, for that is in our
hearts and will stay there forever.

So Pocahontas grew up in this pleasant
home, and learned to embroider her dresses
with shells, and to weave mats, and to cook,
and to do all those thino-s which Indian maidens
were accustomed to.

One day, when she was about twelve years
old, an Indian came into the village and told the
people a story about a wonderful white man that
had been captured some time before. It was
said that he could talk to his friends many miles
away by putting down words on a piece of
paper, and he had a queer little instrument by
which he talked with the stars, and he had told
them that the earth was round, and that the sun
" chased the night around it continually." They
had never heard of such curious things before,
and they decided that this strange being was
something more than a mere man, and that per-
haps it was in his power to bring good or evil
upon them as he wished. So all the Indian

THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS. 261

priests and magicians met together and for three
days practised all sorts of magic to find out from
the invisible world what they had better do with
their prisoner ; and finally they decided to take
him to the great chief Powhatan, father of Poca-
hontas, and let him decide for them.

Powhatan received the captive with great
courtesy. He asked him about his life, and
found that he was one of a company of men
who had sailed from England to found a settle-
ment in Virginia.

This man was Captain John Smith, a great
soldier, who had already won much fame in
fighting against the Turks.

He and his companions founded Jamestown,
in Virginia, the first English colony which suc-
ceeded in America. While exploring the coun-
try he had been captured by the Indians. His
companions were put to death immediately, but
he saved his life by his presence of mind.
When the Indians captured him he did not show
any sign of fear, but began talking to them about
his friends in Jamestown, and wrote a letter
which he asked them to send there. Then he

262 THE- STORY OF POCAHONTAS.

took out a pocket-compass and showed them
how to use it, and also talked to them about the
shape of the earth, and its motion around the
sun.

All this surprised the Indians very much.
They had never seen a written letter before,
and they imagined it could only be done by
magic, and they thought that if Smith were
guided through the forest by means of the com-
pass it was because he could talk to the stars
and the sun. And then, had they not always
been taught that the sun came up from the east
in the morning, and went down in the west at
night, never to return, but that a new sun came
each day to light the world ? So they listened
to all these wonderful things with great awe and
fear, and Powhatan and his council decided that
it was not safe to let such a man live, as he
might do them great harm, being so powerful
and wise, and knowing so much about the un-
seen world. When Pocahontas was told that
Smith must die, she felt very sad indeed. Dur-
ing the time that he had been a prisoner in the
village she had grown very fond of him, as he

THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS. 263

also had of her, and it seemed a dreadful thing
that such a brave and good man should die.

Many a story had he told her of the lands
beyond the sea, where lived the little English
boys and girls whom he had left behind him,
and Pocahontas was never tired of listening to
the tales of that fair England that Smith loved
so well. How different it was from her own
home, and how she would like to see those blue-
eyed, fair-haired children, whose lives were so
unlike her own. Ah, it was such a cruel thing
to think that this good man must die. If she
could only save him in some way, how glad she
would be. And he was so brave too, he did
not flinch when he was told that he must die —
not even when he was told that he was to be
put to death in the most cruel way that the
Indians could think of. And so the Indian
maiden grieved and grieved and tried to think
of some way in which she might save her friend's
life, but she could not.

At length the time came for his execution.
He was brought out in the village square, and
after his hands and feet were bound he was

264 THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS.

Stretched on the ground with his head resting
upon a great stone. Beside him stood an Indian
with a great club in his hand with which he
was to dash out the EngHshman's brains. The
club was lifted in the air and in another moment
would have fallen upon Smith's head, had not
Pocahontas, who at the last moment resolved to
save his life at the risk of her own, rushed up to
the spot and, clasping the captive's head in her
arms, begged her father with tears in her eyes
to spare his life.

Powhatan was touched by his daughter's
sorrow and listened to her request ; he ordered
Smith's bonds to be taken off, and said that he
would spare his life.

So Smith rose from the ground a free man,
and with an escort of twelve men was sent back
to Jamestown.

You can well imagine that he would never
forget this brave, beautiful Indian maid who had
saved his life. And many times after that he
had reason to be grateful to Pocahontas. At
that time the Jamestown settlement was in con-
stant fear of attacks from the Indians, and more

THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS. 265

than once Pocahontas came throuorh the forest
at night to warn the English of danger, and
Captain Smith said that, had it not been for her
help, the Jamestown colony would have died of
starvation. The Indians were very unfriendly
and very unwilling to supply the English with
food, and if Pocahontas and her father had not
brought them corn they could not have gotten
it anywhere else. Jamestown soon became as
familiar to Pocahontas as her own father's home.
She often went there to offer help and counsel
to the colonists, and always showed the same
fondness for Smith that she had shown in early
childhood. Smith was obliged to go back to
England after a while, to be treated for a wound,
and after he went away Pocahontas did not
visit Jamestown any more. The English told
her that he was dead, and she could not bear
to go there without seeing him. But he was
not dead, and the two friends were to meet once
more — not in Jamestown, it is true, but in Eng-
land, where Pocahontas went as the bride of the
young Englishman John Rolfe.

Rolfe loved the j^oung Indian maiden dearly,

266 THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS.

but he could not marry her, as it was then con-
sidered very wrong for an Englishman to marry
a heathen ; but after a time Pocahontas became
a Christian and was baptized under the name of
Rebecca, and soon after she was married.

Powhatan and his chiefs were very glad of
this marriage, as were also the colonists, and for
many years after the Indians were more friendly.
Pocahontas was taken by her husband to Eng-
land, where she was received with great delight
by the English court. The king and queen
grew very fond of her and showed her every
kindness that they could, and all the great Eng-
lish lords and ladies wished to see the Indian
girl who had been so kind to their countrymen
in Jamestown. As she was a princess she was
called Lady Pocahontas, and every one was sur-
prised that a girl who had been brought up in the
society of cruel savages, should have such beauti-
ful and gentle manners. They said that she
acted more like one of their own English ladies
than the daughter of an Indian chief, but Poca-
hontas was gentle-mannered because her heart
was kind and good ; not gentle birth but kind

THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS, 26/

hearts make the truest ladies and gentlemen, and
no lady of the English court could say that she
had saved another's life at the risk of her own
as could the Indian maid from across the sea.
Pocahontas was much surprised to find Captain
Smith alive and in England ; she wept on seeing
him, and begged him to let her call him father.

Smith told her that, as she was a king's
daughter, this would not be allowed at the court ;
but she said that she must call him father and
he must call her child, and that she would be
his countrywoman forever. Smith wrote a
letter to the king and queen asking them to
receive Pocahontas kindly, and it was through
him that she was so much noticed by the Eng-
lish nobility.

Her beauty and sweetness would have won
their hearts, but it was the memory of what she
had done for the English in Jamestown that
made them so eager to be kind to her in return.
Pocahontas did not stay very long in England,
although she grew to love it dearly, and did not
want to go away from the land where she had
only known happiness and kindness. But her

268 THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS.

husband decided to return to Jamestown, and
Pocahontas prepared to leave England with a
heavy heart. She thought that they could be
much happier there than in America, and she
wanted to bring up her little son as an English
boy, and did not want him to see all the cruelty
and wickedness which she knew he would find
in the wild life in Jamestown. So all things
were made ready, and they left London and
went to Gravesend, where they were to take ship
for America. But, just as they were about to
sail Pocahontas was taken ill and died ; the
Eng^lish climate had been too severe for one
born in the South, and so Rolfe and his little son
went back to America alone, and the beautiful
princess was buried in England, far from her
own land ; and her English friends mourned for
the sweet Indian girl whom they all loved ; and
for years and years her story was listened to
with admiration by the boys and girls in the
homes of England, for it was the story of a brave
and true heart, and such we must always honor.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE AND DISCOVERY OF
LAKE CHAMPLAIN.

Although the southern part of North
America became very well known to Europe
almost immediately after its discovery, yet many
years passed away before the whites knew very
much about the lands farther north. This was
because in settling America the settlers thought
more of finding gold and silver than any thing
else. Gold and silver had been found in such
quantities in Mexico and Peru, and Spain had
grown so rich by conquering those countries, that
no one thought it worth while to go to any place
that had neither gold nor silver nor precious
stones to offer. And then, besides this reason,
the northern part of America did not have such
a warm, delightful climate as the southern. In
Florida one could live for the greater part of the
year on the fruit, that was so abundant, and one

270 THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE.

scarcely needed a house where the summer
lasted so long; but up in the north one must be
well protected from the icy winds, must have
heavy fur clothing and warm comfortable
houses, and above all, must spend the spring
and summer months in planting corn and grain
for use in the long, cold winter ; and so, as men
knew living would be very hard work, and the
chance of getting rich very small up there on
those northern coasts, they stayed away, and
long years passed before white settlers came to
live among the beautiful mountains and valleys
of New England.

The first people who came were the fisher-
folk. They came from France, and spent the
warm months in tossing on the waters around
the coast of Newfoundland and Maine, taking
^in large cargoes of fish which they sold readily
in European markets. When they went back
home again they told very entertaining stories
about the northern lands ; of their great rivers
that came rushing down from the north, and of
the beautiful forests of pine and spruce, and of
the pleasant inland lakes whose waters were so

THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE. 2/1

clear that one could see the pebbles on the bot-
tom, and which were filled with delicious trout.
By and by these fishermen's stories attracted
other people to those regions, and men began
to go there not only to fish, but to trade with
the natives ; and gradually it came to be quite a
general custom for the traders and fishermen to
build a few warm huts and pass the winter on
the shores of some sheltered bay, instead of go-
ing back to France at the first sign of cold
weather. And here they learned many interest-
ing things about the new country, and which
made it seem quite worth living in. They
learned how the Indian could start from the
coast in his bark canoe, and, by means of those
large streams, the Kennebec, and the Penob-
scot, and the lakes that they formed, reach
easily the smaller rivers of Canada and so float
down to the great Hochelaga or St. Lawrence ;
thus going from the Atlantic coast, through
hundreds of miles of dense forest, to the large
Indian villages of Hochelaga or Stadacona.
Sometimes the traveller would have to carry his
canoe from one lake to another, always a short

2/2 THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE.

distance, or around the rapids or waterfalls of
the narrowing river ; but with these exceptions
the journey was made entirely by water. And
as the Indians of Canada and those of Maine
were constantly trading with one another, the
whites soon saw that a country where distant
places could be so easily reached, and whose
fine forests, and rich furs, and excellent fisheries
could be had for the taking, w^as not so poor
after all, and that perhaps they might as easily
draw gold from the sea, or find it in the sweet-
scented woods, as by wandering through the
marshes of Florida, or on the banks of the Mis-
sissippi.

And so, little by little, the French king be-
gan to believe that it would be a very good
thing for France to own and settle Maine and
Canada, or, as all the northern part of America
was then called. New France; and in 1604 Sieur
De Monts, a Huguenot nobleman, sailed from
Havre de Grace for the purpose of making a
French settlement in Acadia. With De Monts
came his friend Jean de Biancourt, Baron de
Poutrincourt, also a Huguenot, who wished to

THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE. 2/3

find a new home in America, where he would
be free from all the religious troubles that were
constantly vexing him in France. Samuel
Champlain was also one of the company, and
as he had been on several voyages before, and
knew the country and people better than the
others, he was looked upon as a very important
member.

The ships reached Nova Scotia without any
mishaps, and Poutrincourt, who was delighted
with the country, got permission to settle here,
and began the foundation of his new home. He
had chosen a delightful spot, and for many years
lived there peacefully and happily, cultivating
the rich soil, and showing the Indians how to
improve their own way of farming. And al-
though Poutrincourt was a loyal Frenchman,
still he never looked back regretfully to France,
for he found, amid the pleasant meadows and
blossoming orchards of Acadia, a greater peace
than he had ever known in his old home. The
Indians all loved him, and the little Indian chil-
dren came and went freely through the halls of
his stately mansion, often lying at his feet while

274 THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE.

he was dining-, and catching in their Httle dark
hands the nuts and raisins which he threw them
as their part of the dessert.

Very pleasant indeed would the settling of
Maine have been if all Frenchmen had pos-
sessed as good and true hearts as Poutrincourt ;
but when De Monts, who had settled first at
the mouth of the St. Croix, went sailing around
the coast of Maine to find a better place, he
found that the white visitors before him had left
a bad name among the Indians, who came down
to his ship with scowling faces and angry gest-
ures ; and so, although De Monts saw many
pleasant spots up among the deep sheltered
bays, and would have been very glad to settle
there and hunt and fish, yet the natives seemed
so unfriendly that he gave up the idea and went
back to St. Croix for awhile, and then finally
sailed across the bay and settled at Port Royal,
in Acadia, the home of Poutrincourt.

But Champlain could not remain content
with the idle life that was led there. He was
constantly making expeditions into the great
forests, and learning all that he could about the

THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE, 275

country; he went back to France too, and
while there a company of merchants employed
him to explore the country from Maine to the
St. Lawrence. He started off on his travels
as soon as he returned to America, and push-
ing through the forests of Maine and Canada,
travelling for the greater part of the way in
an Indian canoe, came at last to the St. Law-
rence, and floating down the mighty stream to
Stadacona, the old resting place of Jacques
Cartier, built there a fort in July, 1608. Here
he remained for many months, visiting all the
country round, going up and down the St.
Lawrence, and learning its islands and tribu-
taries, and giving names to rivers, islands, and
lakes which they keep to this day. In the spring
the men laid out garden plots and planted them
carefully, so that they would have corn and
vegetables for the next winter ; and as soon as
the planting was done, and everything in good
order, Champlain started off on one of his trips,
which proved to be the most interesting he had
ever undertaken.

He was accompanied by a large party of his

276 THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE.

men, and in his journey met, as agreed upon,
the Indians of Canada in an expedition against
the Iroquois, the tribes of what is now known as
New York State. He met his Indian friends at
the mouth of the Iroquois River, now called the
Richelieu ; they were very glad to see him and
his men, for they knew that they would be of
great help in the coming battle, and probably
be the means of their defeating the Iroquois.
Champlain noticed the beauty of this river,
which he had never sailed on before, and asked
his guides where it came from. They told him it
came from a beautiful lake not very far away,
and which he could easily reach with his vessel.
But he soon found that this was not true : the
river grew narrower and narrower, and the bed
became so rocky and steep that the Indians at
last confessed that they had deceived him in the
hope that he would join in the coming battle.
But as soon as Champlain saw that he could not
reach the lake in his own vessel, he sent it back
to Quebec, only being able to persuade two of
his men to go on with him. The rest of the
journey was made in the canoes, and although

THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE. 2/7

there were many dangerous places in the river
— falls and rapids and immense boulders that
almost blocked the way — still, by landing and
carrying the canoes around the worst places,
they at last came to smooth water without hav-
ing lost a single boat. And then Champlain
saw, as they floated into this shining stretch of
water, that of all the lakes he had seen in Maine
or Canada none was so beautiful as this. For
miles and miles ahead its waves glistened in the
July sunlight, and everywhere lovely islands
appeared; the shores were bordered with mag-
nificent trees and covered with luxuriant vines ;
on one side rose the wooded heights of Ver-
mont, and on the other the white peaks of the
Adirondacks, and as the admiring party slowly
coasted along, visiting the little bays and islands,
and gathering the wild flowers and strawberries
that grew in abundance, they felt well rewarded
for their difficult journey.

Champlain gave the lake his own name,
which it bears to this day in honor of its great
discoverer.

Two or three days passed very peacefully,

278 THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE.

and it seemed they had only come to that beau-
tiful place for quiet and enjoyment ; but one
evening, just as the dusk was creeping over the
lake, they saw the dark faces of the Iroquois
looking down at them from the leafy heights
above. The Canadian Indians gave a shrill
cry at the sight, and all that night the two tribes
shrieked defiance at one another, and waited
impatiently for the sunrise, which was to be the
signal for the battle to begin. At break of day
the Iroquois stood ready for battle, awaiting
the attack of the Canadians, who all this time
had kept Champlain and his friends hidden
from the sight of their enemies. Now they
formed in ranks, still keeping their white friends
concealed, and marched slowly toward the Iro-
quois, who were eager for the fight. But before
a single arrow was shot the ranks of the Cana-
dians opened, and Champlain came coolly to
the front and fired his gun. The Iroquois
were terrified, having never before seen such a
weapon, and when they saw that two of their
number were wounded, they became still more
afraid ; and thinking that Champlain was a god,

THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE. 279

and held a magic instrument in his hand against
which it would be useless ^o fight, they turned
and fled into the woods, pursued by the Cana-
dians, who were delighted at the success of their
trick, and shrieked out their joy over their easy
victory. But the Iroquois went on, not heed-
ing their enemies' triumphant cries, and did not
consider themselves safe until they reached their
own peaceful valleys, hidden away among the
Adirondacks ; and years and years after that
the children of the tribe, as they gathered the
water-lilies from the beautiful mountain lakes,
or wandered among the woods plucking dainty
flowers and waxen Indian pipes, would tell with
wonder and awe the story of the great white
god and his magic weapon, and how by his aid
the brave Iroquois, always before victorious in
battle, had been defeated on the shores of that
distant lake which lay beyond the slopes of
their snow-capped mountains.

But the Canadians went home rejoicing, and
Champlain went back to Quebec, and told of
his discovery, and placed the new lake on his
maps with much pride, and wrote in his journal

28o THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE.

an account of his journey thither, which, when
the French people at home read it, pleased them
so much that they were more determined than
ever that the whole of that beautiful region
should belong to France, and to no other
country. And Champlain lived in honor at Que-
bec until his death, in 1635 ; but his name will
never be forgotten, for it is heard year after
year, and echoed again and again, among the
trees that fringe the shores, and the mountains
that overlook the beautiful lake that he discov-
ered.

But in the meantime the English had not
been idle. The year after DeMonts left France
the English also sent an expedition to the north-
ern part of what they then called Virginia. The
leader was George Weymouth, and the name of
the vessel was the Archangel. After a pleas-
ant voyage they landed in May on Monhegan
Island, south of Maine, near Pemaquid Point.
After the long sea voyage the men were glad
to get on land again, and delighted with the isl-
and, which had fine shade trees, cool streams of
fresh water, and was covered with gooseberries,

THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE. 28 1

Strawberries, roses and violets, which grew down
to the water's edge. But pleasant as this was,
they made only a short stay here, and went on
along the coast and up some of the large rivers
to find a good place for a settlement. They
sailed in and out among the many bays, and
everywhere found the country as pleasant as
their first view of it. Everywhere were good
harbors, forests full of deer and other game,
trees for ship-building, acres and acres of fertile
ground for raising crops, and miles of meadow
land, through which ran the brooks that had
come rushing down from the high lands. The
men declared that the peas and barley grew half
an inch a day, and said that it was impossible
to describe the beauty and goodness of the
land.

The Indians, too, were of orderly and peace-
ful habits, the different tribes living for the most
part very quietly. The principal tribe was the
Abnakis, and it was their custom to dwell in vil-
lages and to till the soil. The principal villages
were on the banks of the Kennebec, the An-
droscoggin and the Saco. They were all en-

282 THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE,

closed with high paUsades for defence against
enemies, and the wigwams were very comforta-
ble, being built of bended poles and covered with
bark and moss. These Indians had gardens
well laid out in regular manner, and raised corn
and peas and beans. They prepared the ground
as soon as the snow melted, and planted their
corn early in June, making holes in the ground
with their fingers or with little sticks.

The Abnakis were also fond of ornamenting
their dress with fringes of feathers and shells
and stones, and always wore a great number of
rings, bracelets, necklaces, and belts embroid-
ered with shells and pearls. But the English
never could win the Indian hearts as the French
could. They never trusted them as they trusted
the French, and when trouble arose between the
English and French for the possession of Canada,
the Indians always were ready to join with the
French against the English, and showed their
hatred and distrust in very cruel and savage
ways. One reason for this was, that the French
tried to win the Indians by kindness ; they did
not show that contempt for them which the

THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE. 283

English nearly always showed, and they tried in
every way to be just in their dealings with them.
They learned the different Indian languages so
that they could talk easily with the natives, and
in naming rivers and bays and islands, they kept
many of the poetical Indian names, which the
Enoflish would never take the trouble to learn
to pronounce. And then, too, it was always
very easy for the French to adopt the habits of
the Indians. Frenchmen would sleep in wig-
wams and eat Indian bread, and wear the Indian
dress, travel in birch-bark canoes, and hunt
Indian fashion. All this was very different from
the English, who, wherever they went, changed
the names of places for English names, and in-
sisted on the Indians learning the English way
of doino- thinors.

And so the Indians grew to love the French,
who were always kind to them in health, and
whose gentle priests nursed them carefully in
sickness ; and by and by they came to learn
many useful things, and to adopt many French
customs, which linger among their descendants
to this day.

284 THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE.

But all this made it very much harder for
the English who tried to settle that part of the
country, and Weymouth and his friends soon
found that the natives looked upon them with
distrust and dislike ; and very good reason they
had for this, as the English captain, the first
chance he got, kept five Indians who had come
on board his vessel and carried them off to
England.

Here they were looked upon as great curi-
osities. Great crowds followed them about the
streets, as they walked through London wrap-
ped in their skin mantles, and with their strange
head-dress of quills and feathers ; and none the
less curiously did the Indians look at the Lon-
doners, and at the fine buildings and palaces
which adorned their famous city.

The returned seamen reported that the coast
of Maine would be an excellent place for an Eng-
lish settlement, and gave wonderful descriptions
of the fine climate, rich soil, and good fishing,
and praised the country so much that from their
accounts, and from the stories of the kidnapped
Indians, some English gentlemen decided to be-

THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE. 285

gin a settlement there at once. There were
plenty of men willing to go to a place where
the sailors said one could gather pearls on the
beach, and where the trees oozed gum as sweet
as frankincense, and very soon a ship was sent
out to explore the country still farther, and take
Nahanada, one of the captive Indians, back to
his tribe at Pemaquid.

In 1607 two other ships left England also,
and on one of them was the Indian Skitwanoes,
who was to act as guide and interpreter.

They landed in July, and immediately re-
ceived visits from Indians on the coast who
came to trade ; and after spending a week in
visiting the islands near, a boat was sent up the
river to an Indian village in Pemaquid. Skit-
wanoes went with this party to show them the
way, and had it not been for his presence the
English would have been met with a shower of
arrows, for as soon as they came in sight of the
village the Indians started up, and snatching up
their bows, would have begun fighting at once,
had not Skitwanoes stepped in front of the
party and called the angry chief by name. It

286 THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE.

was Nahanada, the Indian who had been sent
back from England the year before ; as soon
as he recognized Skitwanoes and saw that his
friends were Englishmen, he dropped his wea-
pons and went up to his visitors, and welcomed
them and kissed them in true Indian fashion.
After a pleasant visit of some hours they re-
turned to the ship, and in a few days, after
choosing a good spot on the banks of a river,
built a fort and some houses, and the place
soon looked like a thriving little settlement.
Some timber was cut and seasoned for the
building of a ship, which was named the Vir-
ginia, the first vessel ever built by English set-
tlers in America.

The Indians looked on all these preparations
with wonder. For the first time they saw sub-
stantial houses that would protect the inmates
from snow and cold ; and the fort, with its twelve
mounted guns, looked as if the new-comers
meant to stay, and if need be fight for the new
homes that had been made with such trouble.
But there was one thing the natives could not
understand, and that was what right these white

THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE. 28/

men had to come and take away one of their
favorite spots, and make it their own without
paying for it, or even asking for it. It seemed
to them very unfair that they must lose their
property in this way, and they soon began to
show the settlers that they were very much
displeased. They became very troublesome,
refused to trade with the English, and showed
their ill-will in many ways ; and this was very
discouraging to the English, who wanted to get
along peaceably ; and so many of them, before
the winter was over, became disheartened at
the thought of living in such a cold, dreary
region, surrounded by bitter foes, and sailed
back to England again in the Virginia, on her
first voyage to the old country.

As time went on the Indians grew more and
more troublesome, sometimes even coming in-
side the fort ; and once the settlers became so
angry that they set the dogs on them and drove
them back to the woods. But this only made
matters worse, and when a party went up the
river to explore the country, they found that the
other tribes were just as unfriendly, and that,

288 THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE.

excepting the chief Nahanada, they had not a
friend among the natives.

The second winter was as severe as the first,
and quite discouraged the colonists, who could
get very little to eat, as their storehouse had
been burned by the Indians; and so when
spring came and they had a chance to leave
Maine they all went back to England, and the
settlement of Maine by the English was given
up for many years. The next attempt to set-
tle this coast was made by the French, who,
not satisfied with claiming Acadia and Canada,
wanted also to get possession of Maine, which
had been so often described as a good place
for settlement. In 1613 Madame la Marquise
de Guercheville, a wealthy Catholic, and some
French priests sailed from France to make
a settlement at Kadesquit on the Penobscot ;
but, arriving at the coast in a heavy fog, they
did not reach the mouth of the Penobscot, and,
after waiting two days for the fog to lift, found
themselves near Mt. Desert island. The grand
and beautiful scenery of this island pleased
them so much that they sailed up into French-

THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE. 289

men's Bay, and made a landing on the coast,
intending to stay there awhile before going on.
A number of Indian villages were scattered
over the island, and as soon as the French
landed they saw smoke arising, and knew by
that that the natives had seen them, and that
the smoke was meant for a signal ; so they
built a fire in answer, and the Indians soon
came flocking down to the beach in great haste
to see the strangers. One of the priests. Fa-
ther Biard, had met some of these Indians
before on his former visit to the Penobscot,
and he now asked them the way to Kadesquit.
But the cunning Indians did not want their
white visitors to go on to Kadesquit ; they
wanted them to stay there with them, so they
told them that their own island was a much bet-
ter place than Kadesquit. They pointed to the
mountains covered with spruce and pine, and to
the sparkling brooks, fringed with delicate wild
flowers, and to the moss-covered rocks, and
clusters of dainty ferns, and said that this fair spot
was as healthful as it was beautiful, and that all

the neighboring tribes sent their sick to them
13

290 THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE.

to be cured by the pure air and delightful
waters. But Father Biard was quite deter-
mined to go on to Kadesquit, and the Indians,
seeing this, gave up coaxing and instead begged
of him to visit their sick chief, who, they feared,
was going to die. Kind Father Biard consented
very willingly to go and see the sick man, and
when he reached his home, which was on a bay
in the eastern part of the island, he found the
place so beautiful that he quite gave up Kades-
quit, and decided to stay there.

So they raised a cross, built some huts, and
planted corn, for it was in the early summer, with
many long months of warm weather still to come.

But the settlement that was begun in such
pleasant weather, and with such good will from
the natives, came soon to a sad end ; for an Eng-
lish captain from Jamestown, who was sailing
along the coast, was very angry when he found
that the French had begun a settlement, and
asked the Indians to show him the way thither ;
and they, thinking that the English and French
were friends, and that the captain wanted to get
provisions from the priests, led the way, and, as

THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE. 29 1

most of the French were away from the camps,
the captain had no difficulty in seizing the place,
and in two days he had plundered it of every-
thing, and, driving some of the men away in a
boat, took Father Biard and the rest with him
to Jamestown ; the English gov.ernor there said
that the captain had done quite right, and sent
him back to destroy all the French settlements
in Acadia too. The captain was very glad to
do this, and landing first at Mt. Desert, he cut
clown the French cross, and then went on his
way to Port Royal, where Poutrincourt's son,
Biencourt, was ruling ; and here the English did
as they had done at other French settlements on
their way, for Biencourt had few men and could
make no resistance. The English destroyed
Port Royal, its fort and monuments and church,
and even chiselled out the name of De Monts
that was engraved in a stone column, and so
the French were driven out of Acadia, and not
a single cross remained upon the coast of Maine
to show they had ever been there.

The English themselves did not make any
permanent settlement there till 1629.

CHAPTER XX.

HENRY HUDSON AND THE KNICKERBOCKERS.

Henry Hudson was the first white man who
ever sailed up the Hudson River. He was an
EngHsh sailor in the service of the Dutch, who
sent him on a voyage to North America. While
sailinof alono- the Atlantic coast he entered the
bay of New York, and passing inland discov-
ered the beautiful river that bears his name.
He was charmed with its clear waters and
banks which were covered with grass and flow-
ers and trees, and said that the country through
which it flowed was " as beautiful as one could
tread upon."

The vessel was called the Half Moon, and
had a crew of English and Dutch — Hudson's
own son being of the number. As they sailed
up the river the Indians put out from the shore
in their canoes and paddled up to the Half
Moon. Hudson would not let them come on

THE HALF-MOON IN THE HUDSON.

HENRY HUDSON AND THE KNICKERBOCKERS. 293

board at first, as one of his sailors had been
killed by an Indian ; but as they seemed very
friendly, the sailors at last grew less timid, and
traded with them, giving them beads, knives,
hatchets, etc., for the grapes, pumpkins, and furs
which they brought, and after a time Hudson
and his men went on shore and visited the coun-
try around.

Hudson sailed up the river as far as he could
with the Half Moon, and then sent a small boat
as far up as Albany. He was hoping to find a
strait through which he could sail to India ; but
of course he did not find that, so he turned back
and sailed down the river again, and out into the
ocean and back to Holland.

Some time after he came back to America,
and, sailing to the north, discovered Hudson's
Bay ; while here his men became angry because
they did not wish' to go any farther in such a
region, and taking Hudson and his son and a
few others, they bound them and put them in an
open boat and set them adrift in the sea. No
one ever heard of them again. It is supposed
that the boat was dashed to pieces by the float-

294 HENRY HUDSCnSf AND THE KNICKERBOCKERS.

ing ice, and that the bold sailor and his compan-
ions perished; but in the old stories of the Hud-
son the legend runs that he and his companions
did not die, but found their way down to the
Catskills and Highlands ; and when it thunders
they say it is Henry Hudson and his crew roll-
ing their ninepins among the hills.

How that is we do not know. If the brave
sailor and his friends really are living there yet,
why, we must admit they could not have chosen
a lovelier place, for nowhere in the world is a
fairer spot than where the Hudson goes down
to the sea, passing on its way the misty blue
Catskills, rich with stories of fairies and legends
of the old Dutch sailors, and the beautiful High-
lands, which stand strong and firm, as if protect-
ing the bright river that sweeps around their
base.

This happened over two hundred and sev-
enty years ago, in the year 1609, two years after
the settlement of Jamestown by the English.

About five years after a company of Dutch
came to trade with the Indians, and just as their
ship was ready to sail home again it caught fire

HENRY HUDSON AND THE KNICKERBOCKERS. 295

and burned up ; so they had to stay all winter
with the Indians. They had landed on Man-
hattan Island, on which the City of New York
now stands, and from this time the Dutch began
comine there to trade with the Indians, and
after a few years they bought the island, paying
about one hundred and twenty-five dollars for it.

The little Dutch children used to do very
much as the little New York children do now.
They had their lessons and their games ; and
although they learned in a different way and
about different things, still they played a good
deal and worked a very little, as is the way of
children all the world over.

Perhaps, though, you would like to imagine
yourself a little Dutch child living in New York
(or New Amsterdam, as it was then called, after
the city of Amsterdam in Holland) over two
hundred years ago.

Well, in the first place, you would not be
living in a tall, narrow house of brown stone or
red brick, standing in a row with thirty other
houses just like it. You would be living in a
wooden house with a gable roof like a country

296 HENRY HUDSON AND THE KNICKERBOCKERS.

church, and the ends of the house would be
made of black and yellow bricks. Over the
door would be some iron letters telline when
the house was built, and on the roof a gay
weather-cock would be standing. When you
came in from the street on a winter day and
wanted t;o warm yourself, you would go up to a
great open fireplace and sit up in the corner
of it, close to where the great logs of wood were
burning.

The fireplaces were all tiled as many of
those in new houses are now, only the tiles then
were all arranged so as to tell some story, usu-
ally from the Bible, and around one fireplace you
would read the story of Noah and the Ark ;
around another, the story of the children of
Israel crossing the Red Sea, and so on.

The floors were not covered with carpet, but
every day they were sprinkled with fresh white
sand, and the little Dutch girls were taught how
to draw pretty figures on the sand with their
birch brooms ; and at night, when they gath-
ered around to listen to the stories of the Cats-
kill fairies, the room would not be lighted with

HENRY HUDSON AND THE KNICKERBOCKERS. 297

gas or lamps, but with great pine knots or tallow-
candles, which with the flames from the wood
fire made the room full of queer shadows ; and I
do not doubt that oftentimes the little girls and
boys were just a little bit afraid to go to bed
after listeninsf to some of these tales of Hen-
drick Hudson and Rip Van Winkle, and their
queer adventures among the mountains up the
river.

But the best time in all the year was at
Christmas, when the Dutch kept the feast of
Santa Claus, or St. Nicholas. What a gather-
ing then of all the little folks ! what games were
played over the nicely sanded floors ! and what
a treat to sit around the great fire and eat the
sweet cakes and crullers, which no one but
Dutch mothers knew how to make so well ! And
you must remember, when at Christmas you have
your Christmas tree and invite your little friends
to come and spend the evening with you, that
you are doing the very thing that the little
Dutch boys and girls did in New Amsterdam
over two hundred years ago ; and when your

mamma stands in the parlor on New-year's-day
13*

298 HENRY HUDSON AND THE KNICKERBOCKERS.

ready to receive callers, she is doing just what
the Dutch mammas did so long ago ; and at
Easter when you have presents of colored eggs
and ask your playmates to hunt for the nests
which you have hidden away, remember that
this, also, was a Dutch custom, for the Dutch
were great people for holidays, and to this day
many of the Dutch manners and customs are
to be found among the New Yorkers who are
proud to claim descent from the honest and
hospitable Knickerbockers, who looked on life
as a thing to be enjoyed, and who have left
such pleasant customs to us, as the keeping of
Christmas, New Year, Easter, and other holi-
days.

One morning, about fifty years after the
Dutch first settled on Manhattan Island, a fleet
of English vessels was seen in New York Bay,
and by and by a letter was brought from the
English commander to Peter Stuyvesant, the
governor of New Amsterdam, asking him to
give the town up to the English. The English
king, Charles II., thought that as the Cabots had
first discovered this part of America, the Eng-

HENRV HUDSON AND THE KNICKERBOCKERS, 299

lish had more right to it than the Dutch, and
he sent a fleet across the sea and demanded the
Dutch to give up the town.

Governor Stuyvesant got into a dreadful
rage at this, and stumped wrathfully arotfnd on
his wooden leg, and threatened dreadful things
if the English did not hoist sail and go away
again ; but it all did no good ; the Dutch peo-
ple themselves thought that they would be bet-
ter governed, and also better protected from the
Indians, if they were ruled by the English ; so
they made Governor Stuyvesant give their city
up to the English, who changed its name to
New York, in honor of the king's brother, the
Duke of York, to whom the king had given all
the Dutch possessions in America. But for
years and years the Dutch language and cus-
toms held their own in the city, and there are
many things about it still which show that it
was originally a Dutch settlement.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE PILGRIMS AND THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW
ENGLAND.

About two hundred and fifty years ago,
there was living in England a class of people
who did not think it right to worship God in
the same way that most of the English nation
did ; they did not believe in building so many
fine churches and cathedrals, or in having so
much chanting and singing in the service ; they
did not like to see the priests, dressed in rich
robes, standing before mao^nificent altars where-
on candles blazed and incense burned. They
said that this was all wrong, and that the money
that was spent in fine churches and music and
candles was only wasted, and that such things
were not pleasing to God ; and above all they
did not believe many of the things which the
English Church held sacred. So all these peo-
ple refused to go to church ; they stayed at

THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND, 3OI

home and had meeting at their houses, much in
the same way that people now, who Hve far
away from churches, meet at one another's
houses and have prayer-meeting.

But the king of England, James L, said that
these people had no right to stay away from
church, and he made a law which said that
every one who did not go to church should be
punished.

These punishments were very severe, and
the people were even sometimes afraid of their
lives. After this law was passed they did not
dare any more to go to meeting openly, but
used to meet at night at their minister's house.

At last things got so bad that they decided
to go away from England, and find some place
where they could worship God as they thought
right ; so they sold their houses and lands,
gathered their families together, and one day
sailed away for Holland.

The king's officers, however, were looking
out for them, and some of them were captured
before they could get on the ship and taken
to prison, where they were kept many weary

302 THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.

months ; but finally as many of these people
as wanted to found their way to Holland. Here
they lived very quietly for eleven years, the
Hollanders being very willing to have them
among them, as they were a very peaceable,
honest, and kindly people.

But after a time the Pilgrims — for so these
people were called — did not like it so well in
Holland as they did at first, for they found that
their children were growing up to be Dutch
children instead of English ; their sons and
daughters began to marry into the families of
their Dutch neighbors, and they feared that in
a few years they would no longer consider them-
selves English. The Pilgrims were still very
fond of England and everything English. Their
language and customs were still dear to them,
> and they considered themselves Englishmen in
every way.

So the principal men met together and talked
the matter over, and at last decided that they
would leave Holland and seek some other place
where their children would hear only English
spoken and learn only English habits.

THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 303

As they could not think of any place in Eu-
rope where it would be safe for them to go,
they all agreed that the best thing for them to
do would be to sail away across the ocean to the
New World, where they would be free to worship
as they pleased, and where they would make a
little colony by themselves.

There were so many Pilgrims in Holland at
this time that they could not all go to America
at once, as they did not have enough ships or
money to undertake such a voyage ; so they
chose some of the youngest and strongest who
were most willing to go, and one sunny morning
in the month of July, 1620, a little ship sailed
away from Holland, carrying with it the brave-
hearted Pilgrims who were so determined to
seek a home across the sea.

The voyage was very long, the weather cold
and stormy, and many times the little May-
flower seemed to make no headway against the
rough winds and waves ; but at last, after long
waiting, they saw the shores of the New World.
For a month they sailed up and down the coast
looking for a good place to land. They had

304 THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.

expected to go to the Hudson River, but the
storms drove them farther north, and the first
land that they saw was the coast of Massachu-
setts.

It was not a very pleasant-looking country —
with low sand hills, and no sign of grass or flow-
er ; but the pines looked fresh and green, and
the Pilofrims were determined not to be discour-
aged. They sent little expeditions to the shore
to look for a good place to land, and finally one
day they all left the ship at a place which Cap-
tain John Smith had named Plymouth, and here
they resolved to stay.

If you should ever go to Plymouth you
would see in the Hall there some of the curious
old furniture which the Pilgrims brought with
them — old-fashioned armchairs and queer spin-
ning-wheels, ladles, wooden spoons, a great
iron dinner-kettle said to have been owned by
Miles Standish, and the " samplers " which little
Lora Standish worked. Perhaps the thing that
you children would like best would be the old-
fashioned cradle wherein slept the little Pere-
grine White, who was born on board the May-

THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 305

flower. It is not a very fine cradle, not trimmed
with silk and dainty laces, but the little English
baby slept in it very comfortably, and every one
will admit that it is the most interesting- cradle
in America to-day.

It was on December 21st that the Pilgrims
landed, and you can imagine how cold and
bleak it was down there by the sea ; the first
thing they did was to build a house, a large
one that would hold them all ; and they lived
in this until they had time to build separate
houses for the different families. These houses
were built of logs, having tiny little windows in
which oiled paper was put instead of glass. As
soon as they could they built a church, of logs
also, with four cannon on the top, to defend it
from the Indians.

The Pilgrims had a very hard time of it that
first winter, they suffered very much from the
cold and from sickness, and, worst of all, they
had scarcely enough to eat ; nearly one half of
them died before spring, but the rest were still
not discouraged. They lived on game, killing
deer and wild turkeys, and besides, being so

306 THE SETTLEMENT Of'nEW ENGLAND.

near the sea, they could catch fish. As soon as
the weather grew warm enough they planted
corn, and after that they got along much
better.

Seven or eight years after the Pilgrims
landed, another company of English people
came to America ; they, like the Pilgrims, left
England because they could not worship there
in the way they thought right.

These people were called Puritans, but it
made very little difference whether they called
themselves Pilgrims or Puritans ; they were all
alike Englishmen and had come to America for
the same purpose ; they all suffered the same
hardships and endured them bravely, for wher-
ever the Englishman goes he takes a brave
heart with him.

The Puritans, looking for a good place for
settlement, chose the peninsula of Shawmut, or
Tri-mountain, which they found to be a place of
" sweet and pleasant springs, and good land af-
fording rich corn-fields and fruitful gardens,"
and here, in September, 1630, were laid the
foundations of the City of Boston.

THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 307

For many years the colonists could not
raise any cattle on account of the wolves which
roamed day and night through the forests.
The Indians were sometimes friendly and would
bring them corn, which the settlers would pay
for in clothing, knives, etc. ; it is said that once
one of the Indians gave a settler a peck of corn
in exchange for a little puppy-dog. Whenever
food was scarce they all shared alike, so that no
one had more than another, and after a time, as
they began to raise more crops and as the for-
ests became cleared, they got along very nicely
and lived as happily in their log-houses as if
they had been marble palaces.

To-day New England is famous for its beau-
tiful villages, with their broad streets shaded
with elms and their wide pleasant lawns and
comfortable houses ; but if you could have seen
a New England village two hundred and fifty
years ago, it would have been a very different
thing.

If you had lived in those days your home
would have been a log-house on the edge of a
great deep forest. Imagine these little Eng-

308 THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.

lish boys and girls going to bed in a room where
the snow could drift in through the cracks, and
where they could hear the wolves howling in
the forests. How afraid they must have been,
and how they must have snuggled under the
covers and covered up their faces.

Imagine going to a little church built of logs
and having a flag waving from it, and cannon in
front of it to protect it from the Indians. Some-
times the people were called to church by the
beating of a drum, and every man carried his
musket with him, as no one knew when the In-
dians might come. In these queer little churches,
families did not sit together as they do now, but
the men sat in one place, the women in another,
and the children in another. There was always
a man to keep the children in order, and well he
did it too. No child dared smile in church, or
he might be rapped on the knuckles for it.
Every one had to go to church, whether he
wanted to or not ; if any one was absent the
" tithing man " was sent after him, and for many
years after this custom was given up, the New
England mothers used to frighten their children

THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 309

by telling them that the " tidy man " was com-
ing when they were naughty.

These children used to go to school in queer
little log school-houses, and school was not the
pleasant place to them that it is to you. Every-
body had to be as solemn there as possible,
and all the pupils used to' sit up stiffly and
primly, and look as grave as little owls, for the
schoolmaster was feared and respected next to
the minister, and no New England child in that
age would have thought of even smiling if
the minister were present. The fathers and
mothers were very solemn people too — life was
such a serious thing to them, they thought it
wicked to waste time amusing children. They
did not even keep Christmas for many years,
and the Puritan children did not know as much
about Santa Claus as you do about the man in
the moon.

You must not think, however, that they were
unhappy ; children always find some means of
having a good time, even if fathers and mothers
are stern and sober people ; and the Puritan
fathers and mothers loved their children just as

3IO THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.

much as the Dutch fathers and mothers in New-
York loved theirs, only they showed their love
in a different way, that is all. And, after all, these
little log school-houses were not such bad places
— they were always sure to be near the woods,
where were great shady trees, and if the chil-
dren did not sing pretty songs in school as you
do, they could at least hear the birds singing all
day long ; if they had not bright pictures on the
walls of the school-room, they had sweet, dainty
wild flowers just outside, and the wind and trees
and blossoms whispered their secrets to them ;
and that is one reason perhaps why they grew
up so good and true and brave. Thanksgiving
Day was the one day in the year on which the
Pilgrims did not think it wrong to be merry.
Early in the day they went to church, which
was held partly as a service of thanks for the
harvest, and partly in grateful remembrance for
the relief that came to them from England when
they were suffering from famine. When church
was over the fun began. All the members of a
family from near and far were brought together
on this day, and what gay times the children

THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 31I

had with their small cousins and nieces and
nephews. What games and romps, and what
interestinof talk around the fire as to who had
gathered the most nuts, who had built the
strongest and swiftest sled, and who had been
bravest when the Indians came prowling around.

For of all the troubles which the settlers of
New England had to bear, the trouble with the
Indians was the worst.

At first they seemed to get along quite
peaceably with them ; the chiefs of some of the
tribes were very friendly and were kind to the
colonists ; but as time went on the Indians grew
more and more unfriendly, and the settlers lived
in constant fear of them.

Sometimes they would come in the night to
a house where a mother was alone with her
children, and kill them all and then set fire to
the house. Sometimes a man would be working
at a distance from his home, and go back there
only to find that the Indians had been there be-
fore him, and had taken his wife and children
away with them to make slaves of them.

The little children would go to bed at night

312 THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.

and lie awake listening for the Indian warwhoop,
which they dreaded even more than they did
the howling of the wolves. Every woman in
those days knew how to use a gun, and many a
time a mother had to defend herself and chil-
dren from some painted Indians who would
come up to the house and ask to be taken in.

About forty years after Boston was settled,
these difficulties with the Indians brought about
a war which extended over all that country.
The most powerful of the Indians at that time
was King Philip, chief of the Wamponoags.
This tribe had always been friendly to the
whites, Philip's father, Massasoit, having formed
a treaty with the Puritans soon after their settle-
ment in New England.

King Philip was a very brave and good man,
and for a time after his father's death he re-
mained friendly to the whites ; but he saw that,
no matter how friendly the whites seemed, they
really were trying to get all the land from the
Indians that they could, and he thought if he
could drive the English away from his country
it would be much better for his own people.

THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 313

So he sent messengers to all the tribes from
Maine to Connecticut, asking the chiefs to join
with him and drive the whites away. All the
chiefs promised to do this, and soon there was
a terrible war all over New England.

The Indians did not like to fight the whites
in open field, but they used to come at night,
creeping through the forest in the shadow of
the trees, steal down the quiet little village
street, and then, with dreadful shrieks and war-
whoops, begin their horrible work. Sometimes
they would not go away until everybody in the
village had been killed, and the houses all
burned.

Sometimes they would go to lonely houses
where the inmates were all quietly sleeping, and
forming themselves into a ring, would dance
around the house yelling and waving their
torches, and the poor people would be awakened
by this noise only to know that death awaited
them.

This war lasted nearly two years, and in that

time many villages were burned, and many

people killed ; but finally King Philip was killed,
14

314 THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.

and then the Indians lost heart, and in a short
time there was peace again.

For some years after this the colonists had
no trouble with the Indians, but after a time
war broke out again. This time the Indians
were stronger and better armed, and besides
they were helped by the French.

For a long time the English and French had
each been trying to gain possession of North
America. The English said they had the best
right to it, and the French said that they had
the best right ; and so it went on, until the
French and Indians agreed that they would join
together and fight against the English. The
Indians liked the French much better than they
did the English, as they had always treated
them better.

Some of the French had married Indian
wives, and they were looked upon by the In-
dians as brothers. To this day in Canada you
can see little dark-eyed boys and girls, who call
themselves French, but whose ancestors were
Indian and French.

You will learn later that this struggle be-

THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND, 315

tween the French and Eno^Hsh lasted for more
than half a century after the time of which I
have been tellinq; and ended in a orreat war be-
tween the nations, that extended in America
all over the country that was then settled.
But at last the English gained the day and the
French gave up all the countr}^ that they had
owned in America east of the Mississippi to the
Enoflish, and that is how this country came to
be under English rule.

After the French and Indian wars were
over the colonists had very little trouble with
the Indians, and in a few years there was peace
and quiet all over New England.

CHAPTER XXII.

LA SALLE.

Many stories had been brought by the In-
dians to the French settlers in Canada, of the
great country that lay west of the St. Lawrence
and the lakes; and now and then an adventurous
trapper had visited the shores of Lake Michi-
gan, and had heard these stories repeated by
the tribes living there ; and then French priests
found their way thither, and by and by it came
to be believed that the country in the west was
as well worth exploring as the shores of the
Atlantic and St. Lawrence ; and travellers began
to visit the new territory and to trade more ex-
tensively with its natives, and to listen with be-
lieving ears to their tales of a great river that
flowed from the north away and away, hundreds
of miles, to the sea.

At that time France was very desirous of
discovering a passage from the St. Lawrence

LA SALLE. 317

to the Pacific Ocean, and when this new
river began to be so much talked about, it
was wondered whether it might not flow into
the Pacific. But some people thought different-
ly ; they said that they had no doubt the great
river flowed directly south and emptied into the
Gulf of Mexico ; and, after a great deal of talk, it
was decided to send an expedition from Canada
to find this great river, and to see where it rose
and into what it flowed. The principal men in
the party were Louis Joliet, who had been sent
from France to discover the passage to the Pa-
cific, and Father Marquette, a French priest,
whose long residence among the Indians, and
the love and respect with which he had in-
spired them, made him a very suitable com-
panion for Joliet.

They left Canada by the way of the St.
Lawrence, and, passing through the Great
Lakes, entered Lake Michigan, and sailed
through its waters in Green Bay, At the head
of this bay they came to the last French
station near Canada. Hereafter their journey
would be entirely among tribes of strange In-

3l8 LA SALLE.

dians. But at the little settlement on Green
Bay they saw a cross that had been erected by
some French priest, and which the natives had
adorned with flowers ; and, encouraged by the
thouorht that even on the farthest limit of French
territory they were leaving friends, they started
bravely for the undiscovered country, taking
with them two Indian lads to show them the
way to the Wisconsin River. Their canoes
sailed up the beautiful waters of the Fox, whose
fresh green banks and bordering trees gave
promise of leading into a fair land beyond, and
in a short time they had reached its head, and
pushed out into the narrow channel, almost
choked with wild rice, that led to the Wisconsin.
The euides left them as soon as their canoes
floated into the current of the larger river, and
then their voyage began in earnest.

They drifted down the Wisconsin for a week,
examining the country carefully on both sides,
and always looking out for the great river they
had come to find ; and at the end of this time
they saw, to their great joy, the shining waters
of the Mississippi spreading out before them.

LA SALLE. 319

And now they were obliged to go more care-
fully for fear of hostile Indians : they no longer
spent their nights on the banks of the river,
sleeping comfortably around a blazing camp-
fire, but anchored their canoes out from shore,
and stationed a sentinel to warn them of any
danger that might come while they slept. Day
after day they scanned the river-banks for sight
of lurking foes, and night after night they rolled
themselves in their blankets and went to sleep,
expecting to be awakened by the war-whoop of
the Indians ; but, search as they might, they
could find no trace of human beino-s alone the
river, and eight days passed before they saw a
sign of friend or foe. On the ninth day they
saw a well-worn path leading up from the river
into the forest beyond. Joliet and Marquette
sprang from their canoes and started up the
path, while the rest of the party remained on
the river to guard against surprise.

A short walk brought the leaders to the In-
dian village, which they were glad to find occu-
pied by the friendly tribe of the Illinois. The
chief welcomed them with uplifted hands, in to-

320 LA SALLE.

ken of friendly greeting, while his warriors gath-
ered around him and waved the pipe of peace.
And hardly had the Frenchmen responded to
these greetings, when there came an invitation
from the head chief of the whole tribe for the
strangers to come to his village. They found
him standing in front of his wigwam, with his cal-
umet, or pipe of peace, raised toward the sun.
He saluted them with a kiss, and invited them
into his dwelling, where a banquet had been
prepared. After partaking of this, the French-
men were escorted through the village by the
entire population, who accompanied them to
their canoes and stood on the banks while
they embarked. Then, as they pushed out
from shore, they waved them pleasant farewells,
and the visitors went away delighted with their
kind welcome. The chief had given Marquette
his calumet, which was carefully preserved, as
he knew it would be of value in dealing with
other tribes.

And then they went on down the river,
past the curious Painted Rocks and the
mighty forests and rolling prairies, and saw one

LA SALLE. 321

day another large river flowing from the west
— a rushing, mighty river, with turbid, yellow
waves that would not mix with the clear waters
of the Mississippi ; Marquette thought that per-
haps this new stream might lead him to the
western ocean, if he would trust his frail canoe
to its guidance, and the Indians whom he found
there said that it was quite true that the yellow
river would take him into the distant prairies,
which he could easily cross, carrying his canoe
on his shoulders, and that a short journey would
brinof him to another little stream which led into
a small lake, from which started a deep river
that flowed westward into the sea.

But, although this sounded like very pleasant
travelling, Marquette could not leave his com-
panions just then, and they continued their voy-
age down the Mississippi, passing the Ohio and
Arkansas ; at which latter point, discouraged by
the reports of the hostile tribes who lived farther
down, and afraid of falling into the hands of the
Spaniards if they reached the Gulf, they turned
back and began a leisurely ascent of the Mis-
sissippi.

14*

322 LA SALLE.

They turned into the IlHnois when they
reached that river, and journeyed up its winding
course, delighted with its fertile basin, rich with
fine forests, cattle, deer, goats, and beaver, and
beautiful with clear streams and lovely lakes, on
which floated great numbers of swans. When
they reached the head of the river, an Indian
chief guided them through the forests to Green
Bay, which they reached in September, well
satisfied with their journey, and convinced that
the Mississippi led to the Gulf of Mexico.

Joliet no sooner told the story of his expedi-
tion than a gentleman of Normandy living in
Canada resolved to undertake a journey to the
mouth of the Mississippi, and to the Pacific.
This man was Robert Cavalier de la Salle, and
in August, 1679, he left Canada equipped for a
voyage down the Mississippi; but, being de-
tained by the loss of his vessel and an attack
of the Iroquois upon the Illinois, who were the
friends of the French, it was two years after
that date, 1681, before he found himself actually
on his way.

They left by the way of the Chicago

LA SALLE. 323

River, which they travelled down in sledges,
the river being frozen over, and even when they
reached the Mississippi they were detained some
days by the ice ; but at last they were able to
begin the descent, and, like the former expedi-
tion, passed many days before they came to an
Indian village that was inhabited.

The first notice they had of their approach to
a settlement came from the drums and war-cries
of the people who had assembled on the bank.
La Salle immediately landed on the other side
of the river ; and, setting his men to work, they
soon had a fort built, and were prepared to
defend themselves. The Indians, seeing this,
changed their tactics, and sent some messengers
across the river in a canoe. La Salle went
down to the shore carrying the calumet, which
was received by the savages with respect, and
friendly feeling was at once established.

The Frenchmen were very glad of this, as
during the three days they spent there they
learned many things about the Indians farther
down the river, and were also well supplied with
food for their journey ; for this village was sit-

324 LA SALLE.

uated in the midst of orchards and fields, and
the people were very intelligent and courteous,
having pleasant manners, and being liberal and
hospitable. La Salle planted a cross bearing the
arms of France, and parted from his new friends
with many expressions of gratitude. The Indians
sent with him some interpreters, who introduced
him to a friendly tribe some distance farther
down, and La Salle found these Indians also very
intelligent and hospitable. He describes their
houses as being built of mud and straw, with
cane roofs, and furnished with bedsteads, tables,
etc. They also had temples where their chiefs
were buried, and wore white clothing spun from
the bark of a tree. These were very different
habits from those that La Salle had seen among
the Indians in the north, and he concluded that
he must be nearing the end of his journey.

This proved to be true, for two weeks after
he found the river dividing into three branches ;
he took one branch and two of his men the
others, and in a short time they found that the
water was salt, and knew that they had reached
the mouth of the river ; a little farther on they

LA SALLE. 325

saw the sea, and found that they had reached the
Gulf of Mexico by the way of the Mississippi.

On April 9, 1682, a cross was raised, upon
which were inscribed the arms of France ; then,
after a religious ceremony, La Salle took pos-
session of the Mississippi and all its branches,
together with all the lands bordering them, in
the name of the king of France. A few days
after he turned his face homeward ; but, being
detained by sickness, did not reach Quebec un-
til the next year. However, he had sent the
accounts of his voyage on before him, and these
had been forwarded to France ; and, after some
delay, a new expedition left France, whither La
Salle had gone ; the object of this expedition was
to found a colony at the mouth of the Missis-
sippi.

All might have gone well, had it not been
for the jealousy of Beaujeu, the captain of the
fleet, who refused to follow La Salle's advice
about landing. As they coasted along the Gulf,
from their ignorance of the coast, they passed
the mouth of the Mississippi, and went farther
westward than they had meant to. La Salle

326 LA SALLE.

wished to turn back and search for the mouth
of the river, but Beaujeu refused to do this, and
insisted upon entering- Matagorda Bay in Texas.
Here La Salle was obliged to have his stores
landed; and, as soon as this was done, Beaujeu
sailed back to France again, caring little what
became of his fellow-voyagers.

But La Salle was not to be disheartened by
such a mishap as this. He cheered the hearts
of his men by his hopeful words, and they set
about establishing the colony at once. They
found the climate agreeable, and the natives
friendly and willing to trade ; they belonged to
the same race as those on the Mississippi, and,
like them, lived in large villages, and had com-
fortably furnished houses. La Salle had no
fear in leaving his colony among these well-dis-
posed natives; and, as soon as it was possible,
he left his company and went in search of the
Mississippi, which he had hopes of finding with-
out difficulty.

But the river was farther off than he knew,
and he was an utter stranger to the country;
and, although he turned again and again, two

LA SALLE. 327

years passed and he had not yet seen its shining
waters. At last he determined to take half the
colony and find his way to Canada, where he
might obtain supplies, as they had received
nothing from France since their arrival, owing
to the bad report of La Salle that Beaujeu had
taken back,

Canada was two thousand miles away, but
there were friends there, and the brave leader
could not bear to see his countrymen suffering
when it might be possible to bring them help.
The little party of twenty was not very well
equipped for a long journey through a strange
country. They had to make clothing of the
sails of one of the vessels ; their shoes were of
buffalo-hide and deer-skin ; they had to make
boats of skin to cross the swollen rivers, and
they depended for food upon the game they
could find. And so their progress was very
slow, and it took them two months to reach
Trinity River.

But hardship was not the only thing that La
Salle had to bear on this wearying march.
Part of the men became dissatisfied with him,

328 LA SALLE.

and rebelled against his authority. They killed
his nephew and a faithful Indian servant while
they were absent from the camp on a hunting-
expedition, and when La Salle appeared and
asked where his nephew was, one of the mur-
derers raised his gun and shot their leader
dead.

La Salle was one of the bravest and noblest
of the French explorers. If he had been al-
lowed to carry out his plans, France would have
been stronger and richer in America than it was
ever her fortune to become. It was ten years
after his death before any other attempt was
made to settle the Mississippi Valley.

To La Salle belongs the honor of being the
first European to sail from the upper part of the
Mississippi down to the Gulf of Mexico, and
it was he who started that spirit of advent-
ure which led to so many Frenchmen devoting
their lives to the exploration of the great river
and its many branches, thus making the western
part of the country familiar to the Europeans,
and laying the foundations of the French power
in the valley of the Mississippi ; and laying, at

LA SALLE. 329

the same time, the foundations of that firm and
lasting friendship with the Indians which was
the strongest safeguard of the French in Amer-
ica ; for all the tribes along the great river and
on the shores of the northern lakes grew to love
and reverence the French name.

They looked upon them as brothers, for
they came to their humble villages and led
the same simple lives that they themselves
led. They hunted and fished with them, wore
the same kind of clothing, and slept content-
edly in their rude wigwams. They talked
with them in their own language, and called
their lakes and streams by their poetical In-
dian names. They even married the daugh-
ters of their race, and the kindly French
priests knew no difference between white man
and red man, but ministered to all alike.
The Indians freely entered the little chapels
that were scattered up and down along the
river, and lovingly hung the cross with flow-
ers ; and little Indian children were brought
there to be baptized, just as the little French
children were, and all was peace and harmony.

330 LA SALLE.

And the calumet never passed from chief to
chief but as a sign of peace, and of the abiding
friendship which began when Marquette was
greeted by the IlHnois chief with hands raised
toward heaven, as if calHng down the blessing
of the Great Spirit upon the meeting.

THE DKIVINO OUT OF THE ACADIANS.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE STORY OF ACADIA.

Once upon a time, in a country in the north
dwelt a very happy race of people. The land
did not lie so far north but that it had bright
springs and sunny summers, and all through
the valleys lay pretty little villages surrounded
with orchards and fields and meadows. And
little dark-eyed children wandered through the
orchards in the morning sunshine, and broke
off boughs of pink-tinted blossoms whereon the
dew lay not yet dried, and through green-
carpeted fields, where the young grain waved,
and through the high meadow-grass, gathering
daisies and sweet, wild forget-me-nots. All
day long the place was bright and happy with
children's faces and children's voices.

The tiny streams that crept down from the
mountains loved the little faces that leaned over
them, and the little hands that threw dainty

332 THE STORY OF ACADIA.

flowers on their merry, rippling waves ; even
the birds that flew down into shady, silent cor-
ners to drink showed no fear if, perchance, they
found a little child there before them. The
wind that sung through the pines at the foot
of the mountain sung only words of peace, and
the whole place seemed only to know blue
skies, sweet fragrant breezes, and floods of
golden sunshine.

And when the bright, happy days came to an
end, then the children would gather on the door-
steps of the quaint little houses, and, while they
watched the moon rise large and silvery over
the spire of the church, they would listen to the
stories told by their fathers and mothers of the
land beyond the great sea, which their ancestors
had sailed away from forever when they came
to find a new home in this northern land.

The children dearly loved to hear the stories
of that far-away France which their great-grand-
fathers and great-grandmothers but dimly re-
membered ; for, although their own homes were
in America, they always thought of themselves
as French. They knew nothing of England -or

THE STORY OF ACADIA. 333

English customs, and English children would
have seemed strangers to them, while the little
Indian boys and girls with whom they played
seemed dear and familiar friends ; for in this
northern land, which the French people called
Acadia because it was such a lovely and beau-
tiful place, the Indians had always been well
treated by the whites, and they were very fond
of them in return.

The Indian children played in the streets
with the French children, and wandered with
them through the meadows and forests. The
Indian fathers and mothers went to the village
churches, and learned of the good priests how to
lead useful and happy lives ; and they brought
their children to be baptized and confirmed, and
wanted them to grow up knowing how to live
the same kind of lives that their little French
neighbors would live when they grew up.

And so for many years these people lived in
this pleasant country, and were contented and
happy. But by and by trouble came. Acadia
was taken away from the French and given to
the English, who sent their soldiers there. The

334 THE STORY OF ACADIA.

Acadians were very sorry for this ; they did not
want to belong to England, for they were
French and loved France. At that time both
England and France had armies in America,
and both were trying to get as much land as
they could ; and, as the English were the more
successful in this war, they got possession of
Acadia and changed its name to Nova Scotia.

Then there was an English governor sent
there to rule the country; and, although the
Acadians loved the French, they promised not
to help them, but said they would give help
neither to the English nor the French.

But the English were not satisfied with this.
They were all the time afraid that the Acadians
would help the French. So one day the Eng-
lish commander sent a fleet of vessels to Acadia,
and all the Acadians were told to gather in the
churches and listen to the reading of some pa-
pers that had been sent there by him ; the Aca-
dians came, but no sooner were they all gath-
ered together than the English soldiers drove
them all down to the harbor, where the ships
lay. Then they were driven on the ships in

THE STORY OF ACADIA. 335

crowds, and neighbors and friends and families
were all separated ; perhaps a father in one
ship, a mother in another, and their children in
a third. There was no time to say good-by to
their pretty little homes — no time to say good-
by to dear friends.

As soon as they had been crowded on the
ships the soldiers set fire to their homes, and
soon the peaceful villages of Acadia were ut-
terly destroyed. Nothing remained of the once
lovely place but heaps of ashes, burned fields,
and desolate tracts of country.

The ships sailed away to different ports, and
the Acadians were scattered all over the coun-
try. Friends who had been separated often
never met again, and the little boys and girls
who had played so happily in the green fields
of Acadia were now to go sorrowing all their
lives for the dear playmates they would never
see again.

It was a very cruel thing to do. It was an
act unworthy the heart of an English soldier,
who could not but remember his own home in
fair, green England. It was something that the

336 THE STORY OF ACADIA.

Enoflish oucrht to have been ashamed to do, for
the Acadians were a peaceful people and not
likely to make them any trouble.

But sometimes, in war, men forget that they
are men, and act cruelly and wrongly ; and that
is what the English did when they drove the
Acadians from their homes to wander homeless
and poor and sad all over the country.

If you should go to Nova Scotia to-day you
would not find the Acadia of that far-off time.
The country is English now, and the only mem-
ories of Acadia are those that linger in the
lonely mountain echoes, in the sad sighing of
the pines, in the wild flowers of the meadow,
which make you think of the children that once
played there ; in the soft marmur of the streams,
which seem to sing, as you listen, long-forgotten
tunes ; and in the deep roar of the sea, on whose
waves the Acadians were borne away forever
from that beautiful, happy land which became
but a dream of the past.

THE STORY OF PONTIAC'S PLOT.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE STORY OF PONTIAC.

There was once a little Indian boy whose
home was on the shores of a beautiful lake in
the midst of a deep forest. He was the son of
a powerful chief, and from his earliest years
looked forward to the time when he too should
be a great warrior, like his father, and lead his
tribe in successful battle against his enemies.
For although his quiet home was far away
from great cities, and most of the neighbor-
ing tribes were friendly, yet some of the noise
and stir and trouble of the great outside world
had crept even to that distant woodland home ;
and the children there early learned that they
must grow up brave and daring men, and ready
to defend their homes if need be. This boy
Pontiac was always a leader among his com-
panions in all games of daring and skill. He

it was who led them into the forests in
15

THE STORY OF PONTIAC'S PLOT.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE STORY OF PONTIAC.

There was once a little Indian boy whose
home was on the shores of a beautiful lake in
the midst of a deep forest. He was the son of
a powerful chief, and from his earliest years
looked forward to the time when he too should
be a great warrior, like his father, and lead his
tribe in successful battle against his enemies.
For although his quiet home was far away
from great cities, and most of the neighbor-
ing tribes were friendly, yet some of the noise
and stir and trouble of the great outside world
had crept even to that distant woodland home ;
and the children there early learned that they
must grow up brave and daring men, and ready
to defend their homes if need be. This boy
Pontiac was always a leader among his com-
panions in all games of daring and skill. He

it was who led them into the forests in
15

338 THE STORY OF PONTIAC.

their hunt after wild, and ferocious animals,
or by the courses of distant streams in search
of rare flowers and stones, or along the shores
of the lakes, where the startled birds made vain
efforts to fly beyond his aim — for Pontiac's arrow
was always swift and sure — and who carried
home at night the largest part of the day's
spoils, whether they were fishing in the lake,
or hunting in the forest, or searching for the
glittering minerals that were scattered over
the land.

And the years that he spent in childish
sports were also spent in learning many
useful things, and by the time he was a well-
grown boy he knew every inch of the forests
for miles and miles around, and all the winding
streams that came down from the hill-country,
and every curve and bay in the great lakes
that lay not far distant from his home. Al-
though he was a very daring and active boy,
sometimes he was very thoughtful too, and
he would often leave his companions and hide
away in the branches of some great tree, or
in some sheltered nook by the lake, and sit

THE STORY OF PONTIAC. 339

alone for hours thinkinpf. At such times he
was often sad, for his thoughts were of his
brave people, who had suffered so much and
been so cruelly treated by the English.

Pontiac had hated the English ever since
he could remember, not because they were of
a different race and strangers, for the French
were of a different race and strangers too, but
because, in all their dealings with the Indians,
the English had always been cruel, treacherous,
and ready to take advantage, while the French
had always been kind, trustworthy, and ready
to be the red man's friend. And as the boy
grew into manhood the hatred still continued,
for the English still continued to steal the In-
dians' land and oppress them by unjust laws ;
and when his father died, and he became chief
over the powerful Ottawas, he resolved to do
all that he could to drive the English from his
native land, so that the Indians and kindly
French alone should live there peaceably and
happily.

The Ottawas lived in the region lying be-
tween Lake Erie and Lake Michigan, and the

340 THE STORY OF PONTIAC.

neighboring tribes, the Chippeways, Wyandots,
Senecas, and Pottawattomies, were also friends
to the French and foes to the EngHsh, and ready
to carry out any plan that the great chief Pontiac
might propose.

The French, who hated the English as much
as the Indians did, looked on, and were very
glad to see that Pontiac and the other chiefs
were so bitter against their common enemy;
and the French leaders did everything in their
power to keep the English and Indians at war.

At that time there was constant war between
England and France, because each country
thought she had the better right to America,
and was trying to drive the other away.

Already the Acadians had been driven from
their home by English soldiers, and England
had conquered all the Canadian towns ; and un-
less something was done very soon, the Indians
and French would have no chance at all, for the
English were more and more successful all the
time. So Pontiac thought of a very bold plan.
He was not so afraid of the English soldiers as
some of the chiefs, for once, when leading his

THE STORY OF PONTIAC. 341

brave Ottawas against the English under Gen-
eral Braddock, he had seen them run before the
attack of his men, and had come to the con-
clusion that they were no braver than any
other soldiers. The more he thought of his
plan the better he liked it ; and at last he told
it to the French, v^ho approved it heartily,
and said they had no doubt of its success.
They told Pontiac that the French king had
been asleep for a while, and that was the reason
the English had gained so many victories ; but
that soon he would awake, and then he would
drive the English away from the land of his
" red children."

This was good news to Pontiac, who dearly
loved France, and he went home more resolved
than ever to carry out his plan, which was —
that on a certain day all the Indians should join
together and attack all the English forts at once,
and so drive their hated enemy from the country
forever. So he called the chief men of his tribe
together, and they all agreed that this would be
an easy thing to do if the other tribes would
join. And then Pontiac sent messengers to

342 THE STORY OF PONTIAC.

every tribe between the Alleghany Mountains
and the Mississippi ; the messengers carried a
belt of red beads and a tomahawk stained red,
which meant that Pontiac was inviting them to
begin war. In every village the messengers
entered, the chief took the belt and tomahawk
and held them up before his people, as a sign
that he was willing to fight, and would help Pon-
tiac drive away the English.

Soon afterward all the great chiefs met in
council, and agreed on a day for the attack. It
was to be May 7, 1763. Each chief was to lead
his tribe against a certain fort, and the English
were all to be murdered like dogs. But it hap-
pened that all the forts were not attacked on
that day after all.

Pontiac was to attack Detroit, the strongest
and most important of the forts. Before the ap-
pointed day he went to the fort with a number
of his men, and asked the commander to let
them come in and give an Indian dance. The
English officer and his men were very willing to
do this, as life was very tedious away from home
and friends, and they were glad of anything

THE STORY OF PONTIAC. 343

that would amuse them. So the Indians en-
tered the fort, and went through their strange,
outlandish dance ; but all the time they were
looking carefully about the fort, seeing where it
was strongest and where weakest, noticing the
number of guns, and finding out about the pro-
visions in case they should not be able to take it
at once ; and as soon as they had seen all they
wanted to they went away, and the English did
not imamne for a moment the real reason of
their coming. The next thing to do was to take
the fort, and Pontiac thought if he could get in-
side of the walls with some armed men, it would
be a very easy thing to surprise the English, and
thus make a successful attack. So he planned
that he and his warriors should all go to the
fort, carrying their guns hidden away under their
blankets, and that they would ask the officer to
let them come in and hold a council. Of course
the officer would agree to this, seeing that they
carried no weapons ; and then, as soon as they
were inside the fort, they would, at a certain
signal, kill all the white officers, and so take the
soldiers by surprise.

344 THE STORY OF PONTIAC.

This was a bold plan ; but all the warriors
agreed to it, and waited impatiently for the time
to come.

But amonof the Indians was a beautiful
maiden, who had learned to love and trust the
English, and who could not bear to think of
their being so cruelly murdered ; and she re-
solved to save them if she could. She was
used to eoinof in and out of the fort as she
pleased, for she was a favorite with the officers,
who had shown her many kindnesses ; and one
day, before Pontiac had time to carry out his
plan, she went to the fort, taking with her, as
an excuse, a pair of moccasons as a present to
Major Gladvvyn, the chief officer. But, when
she came into the officer's presence, her cour-
age failed her ; she knew what her own fate
would be if her words were not heeded, and
Pontiac should succeed after all ; and so,
. she quite lost heart, and, laying the moc-
casons down on the table, talked a little
while with the major, and then went out with-
out giving her warning. But when she was
again outside, her troubled face attracted the

THE STORY OF PONTIAC. 345

notice of the sentinel, who immediately sus-
pected some plot, and persuaded her to go
back to Major Gladwyn. And then, after many
promises of protection, she at length told him
of Pontiac's plan, and warned him to be pre-
pared. Major Gladwyn immediately began to
make ready for Pontiac's visit, and when he
appeared the next day, with fifty of his boldest
warriors, all carrying their guns under their
blankets, he found the English soldiers stand-
ing in ranks, armed and prepared for battle.

The chief saw at once that his plan had
failed, and, as the English did not intend to
fight unless the Indians began the battle, Pon-
tiac and his men were allowed to leave the fort
again in peace. And so Detroit was saved by
a tender-hearted girl, and once again, as hap-
pened many times during the terrible struggles
between the Indians and whites, the Enelish
had to thank an Indian maiden for help and
warning in time of need.

But this failure only made Pontiac and the
other chiefs more furious than ever. As soon
as possible the other forts were attacked. The

IS*

346 THE STORY OF PONTIAC.

Wyandots burned Fort Sandusky, and butch-
ered the soldiers ; the Chippeways murdered
nearly all the inmates of Fort Mackinaw ; and
by a clever trick Michilimackinac was also ta'-
ken. The capture of Michilimackinac was on a
holiday ; the Indians had approached the fort
and were playing ball outside ; they had invited
the soldiers out to see the game, and as they
stood looking on, an Indian suddenly threw
the ball near the gate of the fort. This was
the sign agreed upon. The Indians all made
a rush for the ball, and as they passed the
squaws, who had been looking on, each man
snatched his hatchet, which had been hidden
under the women's blankets, and ran into the
fort. The soldiers were not prepared, and in
the surprise and confusion most of them were
killed.

And so the Indians went on, taking fort after
fort, until there remained only three in the hands
of the Enelish. One of these was Detroit, which
Pontiac had surrounded for months with his own
and other tribes ; but the English had a large
store of provisions, and Pontiac, seeing no hope

THE STORY OF PONTIAC. 347

of success just then, went away with his men to
attack places less strong.

But he was still fiercely determined to drive
the English from his western home, and for
two years he gave them no peace — surprising
them here and there, now at dead of night,
and then in broad noonday, until the terrible
war-cry of the Ottawas became a fear and dread
to all the English in the west; but finally, worn
out and discouraged with the useless struggle,
one by one his warriors left him, and he fled to
the Illinois, and lived with that tribe until his
death.

His was the most dreaded name in the west,
and for years after, when France and England
were no longer at war, and the Indians were for
the most part peaceful, the English settlers in
the lake region and on the banks of the Missis-
sippi still remembered, with shuddering horror,
the name of Pontiac, the last of the great Indian
chiefs.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE REVOLUTOIN.

Although America had been settled by dif-
ferent nations — one place by the English, an-
other by the Dutch, another by the French,
another by the Swedes, and so on — it came to
pass at last, as you have seen, that after a great
deal of trouble and much fighting, England
owned the greater part of it, and that the English
language was spoken and English law obeyed
from Maine to Florida. In fact, America was
no longer looked upon as a country by itself, but
as a province of England. And the people called
themselves English, and were very proud to do
so too ; for then, as now, England was one of
the greatest countries in the world.

This friendly feeling might have lasted for
many years, if it had not been for the foolish and
wrono- acts of the Enelish kingf and his advisers.

The great war which England had been

THE REVOLUTION. 349

carrying on, a part of which was the fighting*
against the French and Indians in America, had
cost a great deal of money, and had left England
very much in debt, and the king, George III.,
ordered the American colonies to be taxed in
order to help pay the debt off.

The Americans were quite willing to pay their
share ; but they said that since America was a
part of the English possessions, American states-
men should be sent to the English Parliament
to represent the colonies, and see that their in-
terests were guarded; just as from all the differ-
ent counties of Eno-land men were sent to Par-
liament to see that taxes were not distributed
unjustly among the people there.

But George III. utterly refused to permit the
colonists to send these representatives ; and in-
stead passed some very unjust laws, and laid taxes
on many articles that had not been taxed before.

This aroused the indienation of the Ameri-
cans, who refused to pay the taxes, and even
attacked the English officers who tried to collect
them. Meetings were held all over the country,
and everywhere the same feeling was shown.

3 so THE REVOLUTION.

In Boston, rather than pay the tax on a ship-
load of tea, the Bostonians, disguised as Indians,
went on board the ship and threw the tea into
the harbor. In New York an angry mob burned
the effigy of the EngHsh Governor, and in every
place women refused to buy English goods and
said they would rather wear homespun than sub-
mit to such injustice.

This conduct only angered the king the
more. He denied the right of America to re-
sist his laws, and passed measures more irritat-
ing still.

The Americans began to wonder if he would
force them into an open rebellion. The excite-
ment grew stronger each day, and the king's
authority was openly questioned. In large
meetings the chief Americans discussed the
vexed question, and decided that they had been
right in resisting the king, and would continue
to resist him until he repealed the unjust laws.
Patrick Henry, a great orator of Virginia, made
an address, in which he denounced George III.
as a tyrant, and warned him against further
exciting the indignation of the colonists. The

THE REVOLUTION. 35 I

king replied by calling the Americans traitors,
and sending an armed force to frighten the
rebels into submission.

Many of the wisest Englishmen tried to per-
suade King George to acknowledge the rights
of the Americans in this matter ; among them
William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, who in an ad-
dress to Parliament declared that he rejoiced
that America had resisted. But they were un-
successful, and things grew quickly worse.

The presence of English troops in America
was the signal for more determined opposition.
Companies of militia were formed in all the
towns and villages, and the English saw that
the Americans were preparing to defend them-
selves. In Boston, where the anger against
the British soldiers was very great, and where
some quarrels with them had already happened,
the English general saw these preparations on
every side. Among other things, he heard that
the people had collected ammunition and provi-
sions at Concord, a village some distance away,
and he sent a party of soldiers to destroy these
stores. As this party passed through Lexing-

352 THE REVOLUTION.

ton, another village, on the way to Concord, on
the morning of April 19, 1775, they found a
company of farmers assembled on the village
green, to keep them from going further. They
fired upon these men, and the Americans fired
in return, though they were obliged to give
way. Several of the Americans were killed and
wounded, and this was the first blood shed in
the Revolution.

Two months later, on June 17th, as English
troops were preparing to leave Boston, they
found that breastworks had been made on
Bunker Hill, behind which stood the Americans
ready to resist them. The battle which fol-
lowed showed the English that the Americans
were much better soldiers than they had any
idea of. They fought with the utmost skill
and courage, and only withdrew when their
powder and shot were quite exhausted; and
although the English thus won the day, still the
Americans were far from being disheartened.

But they really did not wish a long and
hard war with England, and would have been
very glad if the king had shown any signs of

THE REVOLUTION. 353

relenting ; but he did not, and they determined
to fight it out. An army of twenty thousand
men was soon gathered around Boston ; George
Washington, one of the heroes of the French
and Indian wars, was chosen commander-in-
chief of the army, and war really began.

Several battles were fought ; sometimes the
English were successful and sometimes the Am-
ericans, and the end seemed as far off as ever.

At last the Americans, seeing that King
George would never come to terms, declared
that they would no longer submit to English
rule at all ; but would make America a free
country and govern themselves. For although
they had not meant to do this in the beginning
of the trouble, they now saw it was the only
thing that could be done. Representatives from
all parts of the colonies met at Philadelphia, and
there drew up a Declaration of Independence,
in which they explained the reasons for their
action, and then declared that the American
colonies should be from that time an indepen-
dent nation, forever free from English govern-
ment. It was on July 4, i 'j'j^, that they adopted

354 THE REVOLUTION.

this declaration ; so that July 4th has been
celebrated ever since as the nation's birthday.
The declaration was read in all the towns amid
ringing of bells and universal rejoicing, and
thus the rebellion of the colonies aofainst Eng--
land became a revolution, or complete change
of government. More troops were sent from
England, and the colonies prepared for a long
and desperate struggle.

Volunteers came thronging from the hills of
New England, the valley of the Hudson, the
plantations of Virginia, and the rice-fields of the
Carolinas ; the colonists had found out that there
could only be strength in union. The war went
on, and the Americans had the hardest part of
the struggle still to come. They had but little
money, and often suffered for food and clothing.

While the English army was well fed and
comfortably clothed, the Americans, in winter-
quarters at Valley Forge, went hungry and
ragged, leaving the prints of their bleeding feet
on the snow, and encouraged only by the brave
heart of Washington, who, amid the universal
discouragement still kept on his way, calm,

THE REVOLUTION. 355

resolute, and incapable of despair. But better
days dawned. Robert Morris, of Philadelphia,
devoted his large private fortune to the ex-
penses of the army, and established a system
of credit by which money could be raised for
the soldiers ; and soon after there was a great
victory at Saratoga, through which a large part
of the English army under General Burgoyne
had to surrender to the Americans.

The battle of Saratoga showed the nations
of Europe that America was likely to win the
day ; and France, which was very hostile to
England, agreed to help the colonies with men
and money. In many ways the cause of the
colonists gained new strength, and this was the
turning-point of the war. From this time the
Americans gained courage and hope as one
victory followed another, and finally, on Octo-
ber 19, 1 781, the English general, Lord Corn-
wallis, surrendered his army to Washington at
Yorktown, Va., and thus ended the war.

The English troops were called home, and
articles of peace between England and the
United States of America were signed at Paris.

:^

356 THE REVOLUTION.

The United States chose George Washing-
ton for the president of the new repubHc. He
was inaugurated April 30, 1789, in New York,
which was then the capital.

The Revolution separated us forever from
England, and made us, politically, an indepen-
dent nation. But it could not break the ties of
race, which will always make most Americans
feel strongly bound to the mother country.

To-day there is no nation on earth to which
America turns with friendlier eyes than Eng-
land, which gave to it its language, its laws,
and its religion, and whose brave sons crossed
the seas, and through much trouble and peril
laid the foundations of this great new country ;
and, in spite of all differences, the American
and Englishman must ever feel that they are
both descendants of the brave Norse races that
crossed the Northern seas hundreds of years
ago to choose for themselves a new home in
England, and that no difference of time or place
can change the mark of race that proves them
brothers.

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